Do She Like Me?
by GallaudetLurker
Summary: Robbie tries to figure out if Trina and Cat feels the same way for him as he does toward them. However, a certain someone secretly has feelings for him. Multi-chapter fanfic. RADE  Robbie/Jade Rated M
1. Signs a Girl Likes You

**A/N: Well, this is my fourth story in such a short time (I'm surely on a roll, huh?), and I'd decided I could try a crack at writing a multi-chapter fanfic, one a modified and longer version of my first fic, _"Signs a Girl Likes You."_ I'm sure I have some more ideas, but they're lodged somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind and won't come out, so I hope the theme established established in _"Signs a Girl Likes You"_ would help me to extend the story into, like, four or five chapters (or possibly more).**

**And then there's this thing called writer's block.**

**Without further ado, I present to you, _"Do She Like Me?"_ Hope you like it.**

**Oh yeah. Before I forget, I don't own Victorious (which belongs to Dan Schneider). I also dont own whatever songs I might decide to insert in this story (unless I write them myself, and I suck at writing songs, lolz).**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter One: Signs A Girl Likes You<strong>_

"You should give up, man." Rex Powers was saying as he walked with - or rather was carried by - his best friend. "You've been pining after them for some time now like a lovestruck puppy, and they had never shown even an ounce of interest in you."

Robbie Shapiro felt a pang of hurt in Rex's words. Perhaps he had a point there. After all, he had done everything humanly possible to catch Trina Vega's attention (the same going with Cat Valentine), and it seemed his efforts were all for naught. However, he wasn't the type of person to give up easily. He really liked Trina Vega and Cat Valentine (although he was feeling sorta torn between them, so he'd opted to go for the girl who showed him the most affections for him). Surely, that made him sound a bit like a player, and Rex seemed to partake in a certain pleasure in pointing that out - over and over again - but he felt like he had no choice.

"I never knew you had in you a player! Who would've thought it?" Rex had laughed one day, not to Robbie's amusement.

This presented another set of problems, however. You see, Robbie Shapiro had never gotten a girlfriend for the seventeen years he'd existed on Earth, much less attract the attention of the female species who would like him for him. While he was growing up, he was never noticed by girls; in fact, he was basically an invisible boy.

Indeed, he would never forgot that...humiliating moment in the fourth grade, when he told a girl he liked her that he liked her - only to have her laugh loudly in his face. He was picked on by just about everyone afterwards.

Everyone, including his friends (few as they were) and girls in particularly, merely saw him as an awkward, weird, geeky guy who carried around a dummy named Rex Powers. And Robbie knew he was indeed that person (although he wouldn't call himself weird. He knows who he is, and he's proud of it). Still, he remained something of a social outcast, and Hollywood Arts was no exception.

Anyways, back to the story, Robbie in short was attracted to two different girls, but was unable to discern of whether they were attracted to him back - mainly because he had no idea.

He sighed softly as he walked into his house, holding Rex in one arm. He greeted his parents, who greeted him back (well, his mother mostly. His father merely grunted a response as he was hunched over important-looking papers at his desk).

"How was school today, dear?" Mrs Shapiro asked.

Robbie shrugged. "Eh, it was okay." He said simply as he bounded up the stairs.

Entering his room, Robbie tossed his backpack into the floor, placed Rex on the bed ("Ow! Not so rough, Casanova!"), and plopped down on it. Sighing tiredly to himself, Robbie looked at his backpack - he had plenty of homework due tomorrow - before shaking his head and grabbing his laptop. He'd do that tomorrow; he had too much on his mind, particularly his..._female dilemma_.

As he thought about Trina and Cat, especially how they looked beautiful that day, Robbie was flooded with curiosity about how to attract girls - but one thought in particular stuck: what signs did girls usually exhibit when they were attracted to somebody? Like, how did they behave, talk, act, etc?

Piped with curiosity, Robbie went on Google and searched for that topic. Scanning the results, the second one caught his attention: 'Signs a Girl likes you.' He clicked on it, and scanned over it.

It said something like this:

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><p><strong>Signs a Girl Likes You<strong>

- **She acts shy around you:**

If a girl's shy, her tone of voice may be a bit softer, and she might play with her hair or something (like twirl it around a finger, smooth it down, or flipping it over her shoulder), and adjust her clothes. If she likes you, she would laugh at your jokes, even if it's boring or lame, and she may giggle a bit (or lot); she may give you a pet name and compliment you.

-** She stares at you:**

If a girl likes you, she may stare at you whenever she think you're not looking. Depending on her personality, she may continue to look at you even if you catch her do so, or she may look away immediately (more the better if she has a blush on her face.).

- **She flirts with you:**

She may flirt with you such as bumping her hip against yours, or find excuses to touch you on the shoulder, arm, hand, etc. She may also poke you, wink at you, or anything to catch your attention.

- **She 'accidentally' bumps into you (and her actions shows her true feelings):**

She seems to show up everywhere you go. She may show a sudden interest in your activities or hobbies (such as going to a football game when she's not normally interested). Speaking of actions, she may do the following to try to catch your attention:

* Lick her lips, touch her neck, or generally expose her neck to you

* Point her shoulder, and align her body, toward you.

* Perform a shoe dangle, whether deliberate or not.

* Lean toward you, sit or stand close to you, or get closer to you.

* Mirror your movements.

- **She acts like a 'damsel in distress':**

She may pretend to be a damsel in distress to catch your attention, such as pretending to be cold (and publicly letting it be known) in the hopes that you would give her your sweater or jacket. She may also pretend to be bad at something (such as math or a subject that she's actually skilled in), hoping to spend time with you and get really close to you.

- **Watch her eyes:**

If she likes you, her pupils may dilate (careful, though, this can be easily confusing, especially when she's outside in a sunny day or something). She also will initiate eye contact and maintain it. If she constantly glances at you (such as looking at you and averting her gaze quickly when you catch her looking at you.

- **She smiles at you:**

Whenever you look over at her, if she always give a smile (a smile, not a smirk), she's probably interested in you. It doesn't matter if it's a big or small, as long as it a warm one (as in reaches her eyes, and not a fake smile).

- **Her personality:**

If a girl likes you, part of her personality may change. For instance, if she's normally a quiet, reserved type, she may become bubblier when she sees you. Likewise, if she's the outgoing type, she may become quieter whenever you're around her. This change may indicate that she has become more nervous around you because she likes you. But then, this depends on the girl.

- **She asks about different girls:**

If she asks you about your preferences in girls (such as inquiring about what you like in a girl or about whether you prefer brunettes or blondes, and the like), then she's probably checking to see if she fits your standards and interests.

- **She gets jealous (and may try to make you jealous too!):**

If she sees you with another girl, or if you talk about other girls to/in front of her, she may become jealous. For instance, she may respond in a cold way, make snarky comments, or look mad. This is because she likes you, and wants you for herself. On a similar note, a girl may try to make you jealous by flirting with other guys when you're around, or by taking about activities with other guys. She may look over to you to gauge your reaction when she does that.

- **She kisses you:**

Self-explanatory.

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><p>Robbie read the text carefully, his mind digesting the information. This was certainly...interesting and enlightening. He, however, could not help but chuckle at the last part - and blush a little as images of Cat and Trina kissing him surfaced in his mind.<p>

It was interesting how something so simple (and yet emotionally provoking) as a kiss could get someone hooked up on a girl (or in his case, two), and yet it was precisely how his crush on Trina and Cat - and his predicament - began. Ever since Trina had kissed him in a stage act, he had developed a crush on her - and the same went for Cat when she kissed him in an attempt to prove that Trina's kiss was, well, a stage act.

The last part was obviously intended to get him out of his crush on Trina. Instead, it only strengthened it further, and caused him to see Cat in a different light. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get Trina and Cat's soft lips out of his head. Hence his 'obsessions' (he wouldn't call them that, mind you. More like 'crushes', which he hopes will become more).

Despite a..._lack_ of positive attention on Trina (to be explained shortly) and Cat's part, he was still convinced that either of these girls harbored something like deep feelings for him given the intensity of their 'stage kisses' that they gave him. No one could put such intensity and effort in a stage kiss like that! Surely, they must mean something, right?

As he stared at his screen, Robbie's thoughts shifted from his crushes to the two objects of his affections. Trina Vega was...a _beautiful_ young woman, that was for sure. Not only was her brown hair cascade down her beautiful and rounded face like waterfalls, but she had a great smile (whenever they weren't turned in a sneer), and curves in the right places (not that he ogled her like a lecherous pervert, of course. He wasn't the kind of person to do that. But still...he noticed).

Surely, she was a bit...bossy and demanding, and was typically an annoying girl who thought she was popular in school when it wasnt the case (so as he'd heard his friends state so, especially her younger sister, Tori Vega). But still, he was attracted to her, and wanted to get together with her.

...However, his clumsy attempts to do precisely just that was, to put it lightly, nothing short of an unmitigated disaster.

Not only had Trina dumped her food (or pushed his face down into his food) in more than one occasion, but she had slammed her front door in front of his face and even once barged into one of his classes (yelling at him and humiliating him in front of everyone in that class). And that list continued on. And on.

Still, he clung on the belief that beneath this all lay Trina's intense attraction to him, and that in his mind she was doing all this to get his attention (but did she really have to do this so _violently_?).

His thought shifted to Cat. She...well, she was generally the exact opposite of Trina. She was a truly sweet and adorable young woman, and it wasn't difficult to figure out why Robbie was attracted to her. Her magneta hair accented her beautiful face in a perfect way. She had a perfectly curved figure. Coupled with that, she had a bright outlook on life in general, and Robbie loved the smile that was always present on her face (and that always took his breath away). Surely, she could be a bit..._ditzy_ at times and was suspected of being bipolar, but she was very friendly to talk to (albeit being a bit too sensitive: "What's that supposed to mean?" was quickly becoming a catchphrase, as Andre put it this way one day).

Despite her..._'flaws'_, he was attracted to her. Surely he had always thought she was beautiful from the moment he laid his eyes on her, but that admiration was boosted into a fully-blown crush by the 'stage kiss' she gave him one day. And her actions (specifically, body language) seemed to reinforce the belief that she may have been attracted to him. For starters, she was always looking at him with her smile (oh that breathtaking smile). On top of that, she was almost always by his side, and seemed to want to spend her time with him. Then, there were all the flirting (or so he thought).

Poor Robbie didn't realize that she typically acted this way to everyone, particularly Andre and Beck.

Reading the website for like the...tenth time or so, and feeling a headache coming in from the sheer amount of thinking he did in this mind, Robbie groaned as he leaned his head back on his pillow, looking up at the floor.

Girls could be so confusing sometimes. If they liked him, why couldn't they simply tell him, or something?

"Because they could actually think you're too creepy but are too nice to say to your face!" Came the voice next to him.

Robbie blinked with a start. He hadn't realized that said the last part aloud to himself, which Rex conveniently 'overheard'.

"Hey! It's not true, and you know that! Back under the bed you go!" He promptly threw Rex under his bed.

Turning his attention to his laptop, Robbie remained silent for a moment before he got up from his bed and linked up his laptop with his printer on his desk next to his bed. He then proceeded to print the text out. Once printing was finished, he looked at the paper in his hand.

With this paper, and the useful information it contained, Robbie hoped he would be able to proper gauge Trina and Cat's true feelings toward him.

He looked at his backpack he'd tossed into the floor.

Perhaps he could write about his feelings for the assignment for Sikowitz's class tomorrow...?

He shook his head.

Nah.

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><p><strong>*cue fanfare*<strong>

**Here's the first chapter! Hope you like. Reviews would be awesome (and not to mention, you get cookies of your choice if you review. :3). Reviews are what keeps authors going, y'know.**

**Also, please forgive me for any mistakes or inconsistencies you may find in this story. I'm typing this up at three in the morning (what a night owl I must be, huh?).**

**Thanks. Love you.**


	2. Too Much Damage

**A/N: Here's the second chapter. Hope you like. :)**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Two: Too Much Damage<strong>_

Robbie simply wanted the ground to open up and swallow him up whole.

He had never felt so...embarrassed, humiliated, mortified, stultified, along with other more complex words describing the same thing before in his life.

He was dripping in soup (it probably helped that his think curls and shirt partially helped to shield him from the hot liquid) and dressed up in Caesar salad. All thanks to the valiant effort of a ticked-off Trina Vega.

In addition to that he was the star of an impromptu one-man show in the middle of the cafeteria, with many students currently staring at him - and snickering and spreading gossip about him - and they were looking at him as if he was an alien dropped right on the Earth.

At least, that's what he felt like.

"How'd it feel to be the center of attention?" Rex's giddy voice piped up.

Ignoring his best friend's mockery, Robbie began to recall how this all occurred.

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><p><em><strong>FLASHBACK<strong>_

"So you think that paper will help you get Trina and Cat?"

Robbie shook his head. "No, it will help me to identify the signs that girls usually show when they're attracted to someone."

Rex cracked up. "Well, good luck, because you're not gonna get any."

"Rex! You're not helping!"

"Hey that's what I do, man. Get used to it." The dummy smarted.

Robbie sighed and shook his head.

Having printed out the paper the night before, Robbie had proceeded to search for more websites detailing everything he needed to know (like female body language and the like). He even stumbled upon the forums.

Needless to say, he'd spent all night reading about the subject. It was truly interesting, although some of the websites were quite..._lewd_ in their details and illustrations.

Walking through the front doors of Hollywood Arts, Robbie saw his friends in the hallway. His heart, however, beat a bit faster when he saw Cat Valentine.

"Hi Robbie!" The ever-bubbly Cat grinned widely as she bounced over to him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Robbie simply...reveled in the hug, putting his arm around her. It was a perfect moment-

"Get a room, lovebirds!"

With a start, Robbie glared at Rex as Cat stepped back, a slight blush on her cheek.

He turned to see Tori, Andre, Beck, and Jade. The latter two were leaning against the lockers.

"Hi Robbie." Tori smiled.

"Hey man, what's up?" Andre said, slapping Robbie on the back.

Beck smiled and gave a nod, while Jade greeted with a "hey dork" while sipping her daily morning coffee, a disinterested expression on her face.

However, something - or rather, someone caught his attention. Trina Vega was strutting down the hallway. She looked...amazing as usual. He felt like he simply could not take his eyes off her.

However, she paid him virtually no attention, ignoring his "Hi Trina!" with an annoyed face. Robbie's face fell. While he watched her walk away, Robbie felt a little hurt as he thought about how Trina did not show any 'signs' according to his paper. She didn't flirt with him, she barely looked at him, she didn't look jealous because Cat was standing close to him...she didn't 'accidentally' bump into him. Heck, her shoulders were even pointed away from him!

This was only naming a few, of course.

"Man, hate to do this, but told you! She totally gave you a cold shoulder, man." Rex spoke up.

Sighing, Robbie looked to his left to see Cat looking at him with a concerned face. He felt his heart skip a beat as he looked at her beautiful face. "Are you okay, Robbie?" She asked, putting a hand on his arm.

Swallowing, he nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"No, he isn-mmph!" Robbie covered Rex's mouth before he could say any more.

**BRRRRING!**

"Time for class." Andre remarked to everyone, and they headed to their respective classes.

As he headed for his Social Studies class, Robbie'd resolved he would observe Trina and Cat's actions more closely.

Before too long, it was lunchtime. Robbie went to the cafeteria, got his food, and made his way to join his friends at the usual table. However, his heart lurched when he'd noticed Trina sitting at the table.

"Hey everyone." Robbie smiled as he reached the table. Seeing an empty seat next to Trina, he turned to her with a smile on his face. "Can I sit there?"

"No." Trina said simply, scowling.

"Trina." Tori said, fixing a disapproving look at her older sister. "Let Robbie sit next to you."

"Yeah, you heard what she said. Rob, go sit next to your girlfriend." Rex smirked.

"But I don't want to!" Trina whined. Tori, Andre, Beck, and Jade rolled their eyes.

"Um..." Robbie started to say something before Cat interjected. "You can sit with me!" She said bubbly, scooting nearer to Tori and patting the now-available seat next to her.

Torn between Cat and Trina for a bit, Robbie made a decision. "I'll sit next to Trina. But thanks, Cat."

"Oh." Cat seemed to deflate a bit.

"But, um, I'll help you with that project for Sikowitz due next week. That ok?" Robbie said quickly, not wanting to see Cat's disappointed face. It worked. She was cheerful and joyful in an instant.

"Yay! That would be great! Thank you, Robbie!" She grinned, her eyes twinkling. Andre chuckled and shook his head, while Jade rolled her eyes.

Turning his attention to Trina, Robbie opened his mouth to say something. "So, Trina, um..."

"I don't want to talk to you."

He blinked. "Um...okay." He said awkwardly. Surely Trina must've been shy...right? He looked at his friends who were having a conversation. He saw Tori looking at him with a sympathetic smile. He shrugged a bit. He looked over at Jade, only to find her doing the same. She looked away immediately.

Robbie raised an eyebrow, but before he could think on that more-

"So, Trina, what'd you say we ditch this group and go somewhere...private?"

_What?_

Robbie looked over to see Rex leaning toward Trina. She turned to look at him (yes, **him**, _not_ Rex), anger flashing in her eyes.

"What did you say?" She hissed. Robbie gulped. If looks could kill, he would be dead right now.

"I said, you wanna go somewhere private? You surely are asking for it today." Rex continued relentlessly.

Frantically trying to recoup the situation before it got worse, Robbie immediately covered Rex's mouth. "T-trina, I didn't say that! That was Re-" He stuttered, dimly aware that everyone around the table was looking at them.

Apparently, Trina wasn't listening.

Robbie felt himself get splashed with a scalding hot liquid, followed with something more...cool. Trina had dumped her soup and Caesar salad on him before angrily storming off.

"Trina!" Tori yelled as she got up. Before running after her sister, Tori looked at Robbie, her eyes swimming with apology and concern. "I'm sorry about all that." She said before she ran off, yelling "Trina!"

Jade and Cat's eyes were slightly wide-open, as Andre and Beck had disbelieving expressions on their faces.

Rex was cracking up.

_**FLASHBACK END**_

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><p>Hence the situation Robbie found himself in.<p>

He was covered in liquid and salad, and feeling very humiliated. No courtesy of Rex Powers.

Sighing, and wincing at the burn caused by the soup, Robbie turned to the puppet. "Why did you have to do that?" He asked exasperatedly.

Rex looked innocent. "Hey, I was only trying to help you out! Y'know, get Trina and all that stuff?" He looked around the table. "But it seems she got you first, buddy!"

"Rex!" The group shouted at the same time. Rex immediately fell silent.

Shaking his head, Robbie carefully wiped away the soup stains and salad bits from his clothes before moving to pick Rex up. "I guess I'll go clean myself off now." He mumbled.

"I'm so sorry about this, Robbie! Trina shouldn't have done that!" Cat piped up, looking sad. Most of the group rolled their eyes, as if she was stating the obvious.

Robbie mustered a small smile, feeling grateful for Cat's concern. "It's ok, Cat. It happens."

"I'm in agreement with Cat on this one." Andre spoke up, looking around the table before giving a sympathetic look to Robbie. "But it was perhaps inevitable that Trina would do this. After all, she doesn't seem to be interested in you, Robbie. If what she just did doesn't make that clear, I don't know what will."

"Andre does have a point there." Beck chose to add his two cents. "You should pursue a girl who will like you for who you are, and not dump soup and salad on you, and generally cause unnecessary embarrassment."

"Ha! Who would like him?" Jade snorted, although a closer inspection would show that this insult lacked a certain..._conviction_. Beck shot her a disapproving gaze.

"Jade."

"What? He's a nerd!" She said snarky.

Beck sighed and shook his head slightly.

Robbie's shoulders slumped down. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Rex chose to open his lips this time.

"Robbie should date Cat! They would be perfect for each other, given that they're both crazy!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cat protested, offended. Andre, Beck, and Jade sighed. The overly cheerful and sickly sweet Cat Valentine also took offense rather easily.

"Ok, you've officially caused too much damage for today." Robbie grumbled as he stood up, yanking Rex up with him. Deciding to make his exit, Robbie turned to his friends.

"I'm gonna go now. See you later." He said simply as he scurried out of the cafeteria.

Unknown to Robbie, as he was walking away, a certain someone was staring at him. And it was not Cat Valentine.

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><p><strong>AN: So...what do you think? I didn't think it was that half-bad (but then, I wouldn't know, lol). So...review on! You readers are awesome. :)**


	3. Can't Stop Thinking About Him

**A/N: Here's Chapter three! I'd thought I could switch between Robbie and Jade's POVs so you can see what they are thinking and how they're feeling, and stuff like that.**

**This chapter will be in Jade's POV, so it's basically an attempt of writing her.**

**With that said, enjoy!**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Three: Can't Stop Thinking About Him<strong>_

Jade West couldn't take it anymore. It was driving her crazy every day, and it had been for a while.

She was thinking about _him_...for the umpteenth time that day. He was constantly on her mind.

Who, you say?

The answer may surprise you (but then, it may not).

The boy who preoccupied her mind all day was actually not Beck Oliver, her blindingly handsome boyfriend of two years who had the greatest hair. No, it was not.

Instead, that boy was-

"Hi Robbie!" Cat's overly cheerful voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Almost immediately, butterflies began to form in her stomach as she saw..._him_ walk up with that puppet of his.

The feeling of nervousness that coursed through her body at first quickly turned into that of jealousy as she watched - more like glared - Cat strut over to Robbie and give him a hug. A hug that, in her opinion, lasted a bit too longer than needed.

She was glad she was a great actress, so she was able to maintain a deadpan expression and posture. On the outside, she looked disinterested while she was sipping her usual black coffee when in fact she was heavily crushing on the inside. Thus, when Tori, Andre, and Beck greeted Robbie, she covered up her secret feelings with a nonchalant "hey dork."

No one was any wiser, and she preferred to keep it that way.

Anyways, where was she? Oh yes. The boy Jade West was crushing on was nothing other than Robbie Shapiro.

This may sound crazy, and it probably was, but it was true - and she couldn't help it no matter how hard she tried to suppress such 'unwanted' feelings. But they had been growing steadily since she and Beck got back together.

She sorta felt bad. She was dating Beck Oliver, and had been doing so for two years (although they had been going out for several months as of now). She, as a loyal girlfriend, should not be thinking this way, much less feel like that, about another boy, especially when that boy was Robbie Shapiro!

Jade sighed softly to herself as she gulped her coffee, feeling its smooth fluid course down her throat. Normally, it would help to soothe she whenever she wasn't in a good mood or something, but for some reason it wasn't working.

**BRRRRING!**

She snapped out of her trance as the bell rang. Looking around, she wondered how anyone didn't notice her spacing out like that.

"Ready for class?" Beck, her boyfriend, smiled as he pecked her on the cheek.

"Oh yeah, I am so totally ready for class!" She sneered, making Beck chuckle when he placed an arm around her. Discreetly, she glanced behind her at Robbie, who was walking away.

"All right, that was a dumb question."

"What do you think?" She retorted, but then kissed him. Not for the first time, however, she imagined herself kissing not Beck Oliver but Robbie Shapiro. It was, in her guilt-ridden mind, Robbie who held her securely in his arm, and whose shirt she tugged closer. And whose lips she bit hard on, making Robb-er, Beck, moan slightly.

With that, she disengaged from Beck and made her way to class.

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><p>Lunchtime couldn't come fast enough, and it didn't help she had History before lunch, a subject she absolutely hated. But this time, it gave her plenty of time to discern precisely how she had...developed something of a <em>crush<em> to Robbie Shapiro, how long it had lasted, and even why it even developed in the first place.

How or why, she didn't know. But if there was something she was almost certain was that such feelings had begun to sprout even before her first breakup with Beck, and that she wasn't fully aware of it until recently. But even so, she had begun to..._notice_ him in certain ways. Like the time when she'd filmed him in a towel after the Robarazzi fiasco (and especially how she almost..._purred_ when she saw his naked chest).

"Dance for us, Robbie." Of course. That would've been more like-yeah.

Or like the time when she and her friends were trapped in Beck's RV, and how it was extremely hot inside. While moaning and writhing from the heat, she'd tried to stop Robbie from drinking the fish water (not because she was utterly thirsty, but because she actually felt worried for him. Fish water wasn't something that you drank!).

Or that time when Rex was sucked into the machine and nearly died. The sight of Robbie sobbing nearly broke her heart, and more than one occasion she wanted to wrap him in a comforting hug and assure that everything was going to be all right. Of course, this was an idle thought that she suppressed. And that's not mentioning the fact she wanted him to finally become a normal person. (Why exactly, she didn't know).

**BRRRING!**

The lunch bell. Seems time went by fast when you're preoccupied.

Jade bolted from that..._mundane_ class to the cafeteria. When she'd arrived, it seemed that Beck was already there, chatting with Andre and Tori.

Interestingly, the sight of Beck sitting right next to Tori Vega didn't bother her as much as it used to. Where two years before, or even a few months before, it would have made her crazy with jealous anger, it now provoked something like mild jealousy.

Was her attraction to Beck dwindling? Was it because she was increasingly attracted to another b-

"Jade! Hey Jade!"

She turned her head to see Cat waving her hand enthusiastically up in the air, an excited grin on her face. Sighing mentally, with a small grin, she got her lunch and made her way to the usual table.

"Hi sweetie." Beck smiled as she sat down next to him.

Just when Cat was babbling away about something relating to 'unicorns' and 'strawberry ice cream', he showed up.

Robbie.

The now-familiar feeling of nervousness and elation went through her again, only to be tempered with annoyance and irritation at Trina's refusal to let Robbie take a seat next to her. Trina Vega, the stuck-up bitch who was Tori's older sister. She was so vain that it was laughable, given that Jade was much more talented than her.

More importantly, it bothered her to no end that Robbie was pursuing her (and Cat as well, she'd noticed. But Cat, being Cat, was blissfully unaware of the feelings she aroused in Robbie). What did her Robbie see in her (that is, Trina), anyways?

Wait...

_Her_ Robbie?

She mentally slapped herself as she fought hard to keep a blush from forming as well to calm her fluttering heart and the butterflies in her stomach. She succeeded to a large extent.

"You can sit with me!" Cat's voice rang out.

Somehow, Jade felt glad at the crestfallen look on Cat's face when Robbie politely declined her. However, that feeling deflated a bit when Robbie promised he would help her with that project for Sikowitz's class.

She kept watching Robbie out from the corner of her eyes while conversing with Beck and Cat, to a lesser extent. She watched in silent jealousy as he attempted to talk to Trina, only to be shut out by the older girl.

Bitch.

However, he looked around the table and caught her eye. Her heartbeat increased, and she looked away immediately, trying to control her feelings.

Then Trina suddenly poured her food over Robbie and stormed away. Jade was shocked, and angered, at that this gank (she knows who she's talking about, and it's not herself) did to Robbie! She felt a bit of gratitude when Tori sprang after her snotty sister, apologizing to Robbie in the way.

Her respect for Tori Vega had increased a little.

For some reason, she felt an _overwhelming_ urge to comfort Robbie - and was saved by Andre and Beck when they virtually encouraged Robbie to stop pursuing Trina. Not wanting to blurt the wrong thing, she saved face by mocking him: "Ha! Who would like him?" and calling him a nerd when Beck shot her a disapproving gaze.

While she rolled her eyes on the outside, she actually felt bad on the inside. One thing she had noticed recently was that it was getting harder and harder to insult Robbie and not feel bad afterwards. Robbie's slumped shoulder and sad, lonely eyes nearly crushed her, and she was tempted to throttle Rex for putting his best friend down (including having the nerve to suggest, albeit in a mocking tone, that Robbie and Cat date).

When Robbie left, her eyes kept following him, lingering on the spot where he disappeared out of sight.

She was struck by an idea. She could go after him, and perhaps talk Robbie out of his feelings for Trina and Cat. Not wanting to raise some suspicions or questions, she stayed more longer, chatting with Beck.

At that point of time, Tori came back. She plopped next to Andre.

"So...how did it go with her?" Andre inquired, rubbing her back.

"Not good enough." Tori groaned. "I tried to get her to apologize, but as usual she's being her stubborn se-hey, where's Robbie?"

"He went somewhere to clean himself off." Jade surprised everyone by speaking up. "I think he's probably at the boy's restroom, or something." Tori nodded, accepting the answer.

"And speaking of which, I have to go to the restroom too I drank too much, apparently." Jade spoke in a 1940s actress voice as she stood up.

"Hey! I don't talk like that!" Jade smirked at Tori's indignant reply. She kissed Beck before turning to leave the cafeteria.

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><p><strong>AN: Ta-da! Here's the third chapter! Hope you like. Since I notice I got few reviews, I'd think I could update when I have, like, 10 reviews. I know, its evil to do that. However, seeing as I updated three times in one day, I won't do that…for now. ;P**


	4. Why do you like her?

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys and gals. I really appreciate them. :) With that, here's Chapter Four of "_Do She Like Me_?" Enjoy.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Four: Why do you like her?<strong>_

As he trudged toward the restroom, Robbie reflected about the events that led to his being dumped with soup and salad by Trina. With his free hand, he reached into his left pocket and pulled out a folded paper. Scanning over it, he sighed as he folded the paper once again and put it back in his pocket.

Entering the restroom, Robbie walked up to the mirror and grimaced. He really looked like a mess. His shirt, which had been ironed that morning, was covered in stains, while bits of salad and ranch remained in his curly hair. And not to mention, he smelled like soup and salad.

Yeah, he looked like a mess.

"Oh yeah, I agree with you. You surely look like a mess." Rex laughed. Okay, he had to stop voicing his thoughts aloud.

Carefully setting Rex down on the ground - Robbie briefly thought about chucking Rex into one of these dirty stalls, but changed his mind because Rex would kill him. Although he had gotten over it, he certainly hadn't forgotten about these freaky dreams about a giant Rex squirting his-

Ok, he was going to stop thinking of that.

Turning the water on, Robbie proceeded to clean himself, starting with his face. He removed his glasses and washed the stains out; he then washed his face. Then he plucked out salad bits from his hair before washing it out too. He put his hands through his curly hair several times before he deemed it clean enough.

Now that he could actually see more clearer on the mirror, Robbie sighed as he thought about the events earlier in the day, especially about Trina and Cat's actions toward him.

Like his attempts to woo Trina had failed, his attempts to analyze her body language had, too, ended in disaster. Not only had she exhibited none of the signs illustrated in the paper (or shown much negative body language - he'd learned that there was indeed such a thing as negative body language from one of the websites), but she had treated him much the same since they had known each other.

Robbie frowned at his reflection in the mirror.

On top of that, she had dumped him with food..._again_, for, what, the fourth or fifth time? And this time, with two foods at the same time instead of one. And she had treated him quite coldly. Like Rex had famously stated earlier, Trina had given him the cold shoulder.

"I know I'm famous!" Robbie was startled by Rex's voice drifting from the floor. He rolled his eyes and shook his head before he grabbed a towelette, drenched it, and attempted to wipe away the mess. He sighed. Still no improvement.

Why didn't he being backup clothes? Perhaps he should begin bringing them for the next time he tried to pursue Trina?

More important..._would_ there even be a next time?

Robbie was surprised at the voice of doubt from the back of his head. It sounded eerily similar to Rex's - although a quick glance to the floor confirmed that Rex wasn't speaking.

'Of course, there won't be a next time, Robbie - and you know it.' That same voice spoke up. What was it? Where did it come from?

'From the back of your head, of course.' The voice sneered. 'I'm your conscience!'

'My...conscience?' Robbie wondered to himself. Surely he always had a conscience, and he'd known it. But he never actually heard it actually speak to him-

'Of course you had heard me speak! It's just that you had never realized that until just now.' The voice replied. After a pause, it continued: 'Now, about this Trina business, I think you should give up pursuing her. She's no good for you, anyways.'

Huh. Now the voice sounded like..._Jade_?

'That's what you think.' The voice said with a laugh. 'In all seriousness, I strongly encourage you not to pursue her anymore, unless you like more pain and humiliation. Do you?'

Robbie found himself shaking his head.

'Then, stop pursuing her. Instead, you should pursue a girl who will like you for who you are, and not dump soup and salad on you, and generally cause unnecessary embarrassment.' Now his conscience was sounding like Beck.

Robbie found himself mulling over his conscience's words. True, he may not be the type of person to give up easily, but even he was beginning to find the pangs of discouragement set into his heart. Perhaps...perhaps he was mistaken in thinking that Trina was attracted to him?

If so, then all these efforts..._all this_...was all for naught? Perhaps Trina had been a massive waste of time-

'Damn right!'

As he thought more about it, he found himself slowly come to a realization that Trina was not interested in him. Despite her stage kiss, and that job at the Grub Truck, and all that, the only signs Trina had shown toward Robbie was ignoring him and being disdainful to him. She had stabbed him with a fork while working in the Grub Truck, and even fried Rex's foot!

Perhaps..._perhaps_ the voice was right. Would it be time to throw in the towel?

'I know I'm right!' The voice stated triumphantly. 'And yes.' Robbie then realized something.

What about Cat? Should he give up pursuing her too?

'Well...I'll leave it to you to figure that out yourself.' His conscience said in a smirking tone. Robbie mentally sighed.

But you're my conscience! He protested. You're supposed to help me!

'Yes, most of the time.' The conscience chuckled. 'But sometimes it's best to leave some things unsaid and let you figure that out yourself. The experience you learn will be more rewarding - or so I've heard.'

B-but! Trina...

'So? I don't like her anyways, and that's quite saying something.'

'But I'll cut you a little slack,' The voice continued. 'If I was, like, helping you about Cat, I'd tell you to pursue her because she seems to like you - and she probably goes - but hey, that wouldn't still be right.'

Huh? What do you mean?

'What I'm saying, Robbie, is that you will find love...with an unexpected person, a person you didn't think you were going to be with. Think about it.'

Robbie blinked at his reflection in the mirror.

R-really? Who would that be?

The voice didn't reply.

Conscience? Are you there, Conscience?

Still no reply.

If he was a sarcastic person, he would've thought he had lost his conscience.

Shaking his head, partly to shake off the remaining water from his hair and partly to clear his mind, Robbie surmised that it would be prudent to follow his conscience. That would perhaps save him plenty of anguish, humiliation, and effort? But for now he'd have to think some more about it.

Considering his luck with girls so far, he'd surmised that he would have a lonely life, one involving an apartment, a cat, and Rex.

Sighing, Robbie continued to clean his shirt the best he could before deeming himself 'clean' enough, he picked Rex up from the ground and walked out of the restroom.

So immersed in his thoughts, he didn't look where he was going.

And he bumped into someone.

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><p>As he collided into the other person, without thinking he abruptly dropped Rex into the ground and caught that person to prevent himher from falling into the ground.

No sooner had he gotten a clear look at the person he had so nearly sent sprawling into the floor, Robbie's eyes nearly popped out from his head.

Jade West.

Jade's eyes were equally as wide as his as she clutched him, her hands around his neck. As Robbie was acutely aware, midst his shock, he had wrapped his arms around Jade's petite waist and was holding her quite close. It seemed that she was breathing a bit heavy as him.

As if struck by electricity, Robbie and Jade immediately sprang from each other, Robbie grabbing Rex from the ground in the process. Unknown to the other, both were blushing slightly.

"S-s-orry, Jade. I wasn't looking where I was g-going." Robbie stammered, holding Rex in front of him sort of like a shield.

Jade glared at him, 'harrumphing' at him. "You should watch where you're going the next time, nerd." She retorted with a slight scowl. Her face was still tinted a bit pink, though. "You look clean, though, unlike ten minutes ago." She said with a smirk as she looked him up and down.

Robbie chuckled as he nodded. "Yea...I just cleaned myself off there. I had a lot in my mind..." He didn't miss that Jade had given him the closest thing to a compliment.

"Yes, you had a lot in your mind, all right - plenty of Trina, Cat, and soup!" Rex spoke up.

"Rex! Don't listen to him, Jade." Robbie protested as he turned his head to look at Jade. She was staring at him, her beautiful face unreadable, into his eyes actually. For some unknown reason, Robbie felt a chill up his spine at the intensity of Jade's glare. It was like she was seeing right through his soul.

Wait...

Did he just call Jade _beautiful_?

Before he could mull over this, Jade seemed to snap back to reality as she blinked and glanced away for a moment. His eyes may have been deceiving him, but he would've swore that Jade had..._checked_ him out, and that she was standing somewhat close to him.

At this time, Jade chose to reply: "Why should I listen to that creepy puppet of yours?" She sneered as she shot Rex a disdainful look.

"Hey, I'm quite adorable, y'know!"

Ignoring Rex's protests, Robbie continued to look at Jade. "um, well...as I was saying...I had a lot in my min-"

"Can I ask you something." Jade interrupted him, her tone more of a statement than a question. However, her voice was soft, something he had never heard before. And it sent some more chills up his spine.

Robbie raised his eyebrows before nodding.

"Why do you like her?"

"Huh?"

Jade rolled her eyes. "Why do you like Trina, Robbie? And Cat, for that matter?"

_Oh_.

Robbie paused to digest Jade's new question. That was...actually a good question. He didn't exactly delve in the true source of his feelings for Trina and Cat? Wait. How did Jade know he liked Trina and Cat-

"It's quite obvious, Robbie. With all the staring and flirting and stuff you use to try to win Trina and Cat over. You never do that to m-" She trailed off. A slight smirk was on her lips, though.

Robbie hadn't realized that he voiced his question aloud. Well...he was a bit obvious, that's true. He never had a girlfriend before, much less have one like him, so he didn't know how to act around girls, or to be specific, around girls he had a crush on.

And Robbie wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not, but he swore he heard something in Jade's tone. Something...he couldn't figure out. It sounded like..._jealousy_ or something? Nah, it was probably his mind playing tricks on him.

"I...I like them because..." Robbie didn't have to answer, for Rex did it for him.

"He likes them because they kissed him, that's why!"

"Rex! That's it, off to the locker you go!"

"Ha! You and whose locker?"

Robbie blinked as he realized his locker was some distances away, and sighed. He heard a giggle nearly and looked around. Finding no one in the distance, Robbie was surprised that it came from Jade, who was covering her mouth, her eyes dancing with amusement.

Jade seemed to realize that as she quickly reverted to her usual expression. "So...is it true? You like them because they kissed you? Is that it?"

Robbie was silent for a moment. Jade had a good point there. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Jade beat him to it.

"Piece of advice, Robbie: you should like a girl not because of their kisses, however amazing they may be, but because of their characters and personalities. In other words, you should like a girl because she makes you happy, and is the right one for you."

Robbie couldn't believe it. Jade giving him relationship advice? Never in a million years would he think it would ever happen. But it did.

"Oh, and give up on that Trina girl. She's no good for you."

Whoa, Robbie had a strong feeling of _deja vu_.

"Good advice, too bad Robbie will never be loved by a girl!" Rex chuckled.

Jade shot the puppet a glare so ferocious that it actually scared Robbie a bit. "Do not mention that ever again." She growled. "Robbie can, and will, find a girl. One who will love him for him. Oh wait, why am I speaking to a puppet?" She said a bit exasperated, rolling her eyes.

Turning to Robbie, Jade continued: "I mean that, no doubt." She smiled. Yes, she actually smiled! Not a smirk or anything like, but an actual smile. That was..._pretty rare_.

"You actually think that?" Robbie asked. Jade nodded. "Yes, you will. Especially when the right one may be in front of you all the time." Robbie didn't notice her flush a bit with these words.

Robbie was about to open his mouth when-

**BRRRRING!**

Here was the bell signaling the end of lunch hour. He looked at Jade, who looked back for a while before shrugging. "I'm gonna go to the restroom." She said simply.

"Aren't you gonna be late for Sikowitz's class? He had been strict about attendance lately, you know."

Jade rolled her eyes, although her lips curled up into a small smile. "Since when have I cared about that?" She said in a 'mocking' tone. I'm going to the restroom for as long I want, and if Sikowitz doesn't like it, he can shove that coconut up his ass. He's scared of me, anyways."

Robbie nodded his head. Jade did have some point there...Sikowitz for some reason was intimidated by Jade, and it wasn't difficult to find out why. He blinked only to see Jade heading toward the restroom.

"Thanks for the advice, Jade." He called out to her and she turned. "To be honest...I sorta enjoyed your company. Thank you.."

Jade smirked. "Like I enjoy your company." She said the last part with thinly-veiled sarcasm before she disappeared into the restroom. Robbie nodded slowly. "Uh, ok...see you in class." He said to no one in particular as he weaved through the crowded hallway toward Sikowitz's classroom.

For once, his thoughts weren't on Trina or Cat. As Robbie made his way to class, he thought about Jade's words, as well the words of advice his conscience had given him.

_"...you should like a girl because she makes you happy, and is the right one for you."_

That was good advice...now if only he could actually find a girl.

At this time, realization truly hit him. Jade had given him relationship advice! She actually did that, something that had never happened even once in the two or so years he had known her.

And that when she walked past him to the restroom...

_She had actually brushed his shoulder_.

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><p><strong>AN: One word: review. And review! And review! :)**


	5. He's mine!

**A/N: Here's the fifth chapter, guys and gals. Thanks for the reviews, especially from ZenNoMai and DarkseidAlex! :) You guys are awesome.**

**With that, enjoy!**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Five: He's mine!<strong>_

Jade strutted into Sikowitz's class, ignoring the stares of the teacher and students as they looked at her. She went to her usual seat besides Beck, but not before discreetly glancing at Robbie as she passed him by.

He was looking back, with that confused yet adorable expression on his face that made her melt inside. She gave him a small smile as she took her seat, and Beck slipped his arm over her shoulder.

Now, had any other student entered the classroom while Sikowitz was right in the middle of his lecture, the teacher would have given him or her a reprimand. But this was Jade, and it was fairly well known around Hollywood Arts that Sikowitz feared her as much, if not more, as he respected her.

So, Sikowitz wisely chose to continue his lecture where he had left off, slurping from his coconut.

Half-listening to Sikowitz's ramblings about his coconut-induced 'visions' (she sometimes wondered why she considered him her favorite teacher because that man was so...so..._weird_ sometimes), Jade watched the back of Robbie's head from the corner of her eyes.

She didn't miss Tori Vega toss a folded note over to Robbie, and neither did she miss the glances Cat was sending Robbie's way. She felt that familiar twinge of jealousy, wondering what that note said.

Then Robbie glanced over at Tori and nodded (at what, Jade wondered with a slight scowl). Then he looked over at her. That was when her heart did a backflip as she felt the blood flooding into her face. Flashing him a small smile, Jade looked away, trying to calm the butterflies down.

Once Robbie looked away, Jade averted her gaze back on him, watching him with concern as he had his head slightly down and appeared to be rubbing his temples.

"..Allright! I've got this idea: for class today, we will act out a dramatic scene! How dramatic, you say? Why, we will play out a love triangle scene, where three people are interested in the each other. Like...two girls like the same boy and vice versa, that stuff. How will we do that? Simple, two girls will fight over their love! Ingenious, huh?"

Jade snapped out of it, looking over at Sikowitz with a perplexed expression on her face. What was he on?

The eccentric teacher continued on, apparently oblivious to the disbelieving looks on the students' faces (except Cat, who was bouncing up and down with joy and excitement).

"We were actually supposed to do this next week, but then I'd thought we would do it now. Y'know, to prepare prospective actors like you all for the big stage in the future!"

'Isn't that what this school is for?' Jade thought to herself. Another student from the back of the classroom literally voiced her thoughts aloud.

"Actually, isn't that what this school is for?"

Jade had to smirk at Sikowitz's face as he looked like someone had upped him up.

"Um...okay...as I was saying, for this scene, I will personally handpick three students from this class! You ready?" Sikowitz seemed to shake off the awareness as he looked at the class, an eager expression on his bearded face.

"I pick...Robbie Shapiro!"

Jade was probably as surprised as Robbie was, although she had to suppress her giggle when Robbie blurted out a "W-what...?" It was so..._endearing_, although that feeling was replaced with irritation when Rex mocked Robbie as usual ("He chose you. Knock, knock, anything in that empty head of yours?").

"That puppet of yours is right. I pick you for the play, along with...Tori Vega and Jade West!" He declared with a flourish.

Jade's eyes widened slightly as she blinked, before smirking as she saw Tori look at her with a worried expression on her face. Guess Tori hadn't forgotten about that 'incident', with the fake black eye and all that...this should be _fun_.

She looked over at Robbie for a few seconds before-

"Come on! We don't have time to waste!" Sikowitz called out impatiently.

Rolling her eyes, Jade got up from her seat and walked over to the front of class. As she passed by Robbie, she stole a glance at him before taking a place in front of the class, next to a conveniently-placed stool (Jade resisted the temptation to roll her eyes at that). Robbie slowly stood up and took a seat on that stool.

He was so _close_...and yet so _far_. Tori stood on Robbie's other side.

"Begin!" Sikowitz bellowed as he sipped from his coconut. Could he get any more dramatic?

As Jade turned toward Robbie, Tori began, fixing a surprised expression on her face.

"What are you doing here? With Gabe?" She questioned. Jade mentally snorted. _Gabe_? Her Robbie definitely didn't look like a Gabe, but eh, she'd go with it.

Crossing her arms, she smirked. "Oh not much, just spending time with my...love. What's it to you?" She'd swore she saw Robbie jolt a bit.

Tori had a frown on her face. "Your love? What are you talking about?" She inquired as she took a step closer to Robbie.

Narrowing her eyes, Jade uncrossed her arms and took what she hoped was a threatening step toward Tori. "What I'm talking about, Karen, is that Gabe over there," She gestured at Robbie, "is with me. Is that clear, or do I have to spell it out for you?"

Oh yeah, that was her jealousy speaking now.

"Wait a minute." Tori actually had the gait to look scandalized. "He's with you? But you've been terrible to him all these times you've known him!" Jade raised an eyebrow. That was the best Tori Vega could come up with?

"You know what?" Tori continued, shaking her head. "If you think you're gonna claim Gabe like that, you have other thing coming. If there's a person Gabe should belong with, it's me!"

Jade glared, feeling jealousy increase within her. "That's where you're wrong, hussy." Tori's gasp, as well the 'oohing' from the class, had never sounded so satisfactory as it did right now. "He's mine, and has been for some time now. Now..._back off_." She said the last part in a menacing tone.

Tori however took another step. "YOU back off! He's not some property for you to claim ownership over!" She grabbed Robbie's right arm and pulled him closer.

Growling, Jade grabbed Robbie's other arm and yanked him closer, nearly making Tori trip. "No, you don't! Gabe's my boyfriend! You back off!" She SO wasn't going to let Tori get away with her [Jade's] Robbie, even if it was a part of a stage play.

However, Tori was equally determined. "Not especially when he had been my best friend for far longer than you've known him! I want Gabe, and I'm taking him!" She pulled Robbie hard toward her.

Andre, Beck, Sikowitz, and the rest of the class were gaping in disbelief.

"That's quite...intense." She heard Andre say, and saw Beck nod his head in agreement.

"N-now, don't I get to say something about that...?" Robbie gasped out.

"NO!" Jade yelled at the same time as Tori. She felt a bit bad at the expression of Robbie's face, but she was really into the act now - especially when she was fighting for Rob-Gabe.

"Let go!" Jade yelled as she pulled Robbie toward her.

"No, you let go!"

"You let go!"

"No, you!"

"No, you!"

"Fine, you know what, Rade? Let's let Gabe here choose between the two of us. It's fair that way." Tori suggested.

Jade snorted. How typical of Tori to say that. And Rade? Come on, that was so lame-wait...for some reason Rade sounded like a portmanteau of her and Robbie's names...

Before she could think on that any further, she felt her mouth open to speak.

"Aha, we both know who Gabe will choose. Isn't that right, sweetie?" Jade smiled sweetly and batted her eyes at Robbie as she sidled to Robbie's side, wrapping his arm up in a hug, fixating a glare at Tori.

"Uhh..." Robbie looked utterly confused and lost. For some reason, Jade felt a strong urge to kiss him, but smothered that urge for that time being.

"Yes, we both know who he will choose." Tori smirked, before she turned to Robbie, and stuck her lips out in a pout. "Pleeeeease?" She quivered her lips for effect, and rubbed his arm up and down for added effect. Jade glowered.

"Well?" She looked at Robbie, who was opening and closing his mouth like a fish deprived of water.

"Uh...um...I..."

"Oh, well. I can help you out with that, sweetie."

Jade's eyes widened as Tori actually pulled Robbie into a kiss, and a deep kiss it seemed.

Oh no...she didn't just do that. She _didn't_...

Jade swore she began to see red as anger and jealousy exploded within her. She didn't hear the loud gasps as well exclamations from the audience.

"H-how _dare_ you!" She snarled as she lurched forward, yanked Tori off Robbie, and threw her into the ground. Tori somehow grabbed her arm, and Jade found herself pulled into a catfight, right in front of a shocked Robbie and the rest of the class.

Along the way, the thought coursing through her mind was:

_Nobody gets to kiss her Robbie and get away with it._

"Tori! Jade-uh, I mean, Karen and Rade! S-stop this now!" Jade barely heard Robbie yell out before he was somehow dragged in and became entangled up with them. Rex's gleeful exclamation ("Whoo! Now that's what I call a show!"), Andre's freaked-out comment ("Wow, Robbie's good"), and Sikowitz's hesitant attempt to break up the 'fight' went ignored.

**BRRRRRING!**

The bell snapped her out of her jealousy-induced anger, and Jade found herself somehow straddling Robbie (and grasping Tori's hair as well). Blushing, she immediately got up on her feet, and helped Robbie to his feet (Tori was doing the same). Sikowitz was saying something about assignment for tomorrow's class, or something like that. Jade didn't care.

However, what was interesting was that despite the fact it was a play, Jade still felt pretty peeved. Her mind was sorta preoccupied as the students filtered out of the room and as Beck walked up to her and placed a comforting arm around her. As she walked out of the room, she glanced behind her and felt jealous when she saw Cat hug Robbie.

"You okay, Jade? You looked really in it out there." Beck said.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Jade smiled at her boyfriend. "I was just getting into the act. That kind of stuff." She shrugged nonchalantly (or at least trying to be as such).

Beck nodded. He looked like he had something more to say, but closed his mouth and nodded.

"I see." He smiled.

Jade sighed inwardly to herself as she discreetly glanced behind him to watch Robbie looking at her in the distance. She blushed slightly and looked away.

That, however, didn't go unnoticed by Beck.

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><p><strong>AN: So concludes Chapter Five. I suppose there are a couple of chapters left. I suppose I could try to stretch the story a bit, and perhaps add in content that weren't in "_Signs a Girl Likes You_."**

**Well, I see I got more than 10 reviews, so...shall we go for 20 reviews? Surely that shouldn't be too much to ask for, right? Shall I use ZenNoMai's patented evil blackmail thing? :P**

**Once again, review! :)**


	6. You're going insane

**A/N: Hey readers, here's Chapter Six of _"Do She Like Me?"_ I must say, I'm enjoying writing this fic, especially when it's about Rade, heh.**

**This chapter will deviate from the original story in a big way, especially toward the ending.**

**Also, thanks for the reviews. I really appreciate them. :)**

**With that, enjoy!**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Six: You're going insane<strong>_

Beck was getting a bit suspicious.

Suspicious of why his girlfriend was looking over her shoulder, and looking back with a...shy expression on her face. He didn't miss the blush that covered her face.

Frowning slightly, he couldn't help but wonder.

Who was she looking at?

Glancing over his shoulder, Beck couldn't pinpoint exactly the person that Jade was supposedly looking at, mainly because the hallway was crowded with students. Looking at Jade, who seemed preoccupied, Beck felt something was somehow..._off_.

And he would find out what it was.

That he would do, he thought to himself as he and his girlfriend reached his locker to drop off his stuff.

* * *

><p>As he walked out of the school, down the steps, Robbie Shapiro thought about what a day at school this had been.<p>

It was a bit difficult to describe exactly, but it can be surmised in this: quite a lot had happened in a short time to influence his perception of his crushes on Trina and Cat.

Whereas he had walked into the school that morning, Robbie had been eager to identify any potential signs of interest in Trina and Cat, he now wasn't so eager anymore.

If anything else, his crush on Trina had dwindled..._a lot_, and he noticed that he wasn't really interested in Cat as much as he used to. Why exactly, he didn't still know fully. Well, Trina was kind of obvious, but Cat was not. So, it can be said that Robbie had succeeded _and_ failed in his objectives - at the same time. He had succeeded in figuring out Trina and Cat (well Trina mostly)'s feelings toward him, but failed to receive the signs/feelings he had initially hoped for.

Surely, that may seem like Robbie got over his 'obsession' with Trina rather quickly in one single day, but that was actually not the case. That crush had been slowly but steadily declining for some time, Robbie just didn't realize that until now.

Looking back, he'd supposed that several factors such as Trina dumping her food on him, his 'talk' with his conscience in the bathroom, his subsequent conversation with Jade, and the..._events_ that transpired in Sikowitz's class had helped to change his perception.

_"...you should like a girl because she makes you happy, and is the right one for you"_

Jade's words still rang clearly in his mind.

Robbie sighed as he walked across the school's parking lot toward his old car, a 1991 Chrysler LeBaron convertible with a removable top.

Given the events of that day, one would've thought that the diminishing of his crushes on Trina and Cat would clear things up; instead, it only complicated matters further. If anything else, he was even more confused than before. He increasingly felt like he was riding an emotional roller coaster.

Entering his car, and placing Rex on the front passenger seat, Robbie leaned back on his seat and exhaled.

_'...I think you should give up pursuing her. She's no good for you, anyways.'_

_"...you should like a girl because she makes you happy, and is the right one for you"_

_'...you should pursue a girl who will like you for who you are, and not dump soup and salad on you, and generally cause unnecessary embarrassment.'_

_"Why do you like Trina, Robbie? And Cat, for that matter?"_

_"...give up on that Trina girl. She's no good for you."_

_"...you should like a girl because she makes you happy, and is the right one for you"_

These voices, most particularly Jade's voice, echoed throughout his mind, repeating in more louder tones like a broken record.

_"...you should like a girl because she makes you happy, and is the right one for you"_

_"...you should like a girl because she makes you happy, and is the right one for you"_

Why couldn't he get that out of his mind?

Robbie heaved a heavy sigh as he reminisced about the stage play in Sikowitz's class, about how it had become..._intense_, as if he was increasingly not part of a stage play but actually in the middle of a love triangle, with two beautiful young women competing over him.

_"What I'm talking about, Karen, is that Gabe over there is with me."_

_"If there's a person Gabe should belong with, it's me!"_

_"I want Gabe, and I'm taking him!"_

_"NO!"_

_"Oh, well. I can help you out with that, sweetie."_

Robbie shut his eyes and rubbed his temples as he recalled Tori and Jade's increasingly heated words – and especially that kiss from Tori. This was, like, the third time he had kissed someone, once again as a part of a stage play.

Although it was part of the..._impromptu_ stage play, Robbie couldn't help but surmise that it was certainly an amazing kiss, especially from a girl who he had sort of thought attractive. However, this time he would not make the same mistake he did with Trina and Cat, alas fall in love with Tori or something like that. Given the recent experiences with Trina, Robbie certainly didn't feel like going through that again – and possibly screw up his friendship with Tori and especially Andre. That boy seriously had a thing for her (although Tori was oblivious to it), and he could see that in the jealousy that was etched in Andre's face when Tori had kissed him during the play.

If he didn't have so much in his mind, he would have chuckled at that.

Anyways….back to the matter at hand, as he thought more about the play, Robbie couldn't help but feel that these two girls were in fact competing over him, Robbie Shapiro, not some imaginary guy named 'Gabe'.

_"What I'm talking about, Tori, is that Robbie over there is with me."_

_"If there's a person Robbie should belong with, it's me!"_

_"I want Robbie, and I'm taking him!"_

Robbie snapped his eyes open, shocked. His heart was beating a bit rapidly.

What the hell?

Breathing a bit heavily, Robbie thought he was steadily going insane with the amount of...thinking he was doing as of recently.

"Oh, you're going insane, all right. In fact, you're already insane!"

Not bothering to respond to Rex's insults, Robbie turned the ignition, backed his car away, and sped off from the parking lot.

Little did he know was that a certain dark-eyed girl stood off in the distance in the parking lot, looking after Robbie's car with a certain longing expression on her face.

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><p><strong>AN: Before you proceed to form a mob against me, I promise you that Robbie and Jade will have their kiss! That I promise!**

**With that out of the way, where the original story ended with Jade getting into Robbie's car and kissing him, I'd decided to continue the story further – although Jade did come close to getting into Robbie's car in this case, lol.**

**One quick question, guys and gals: are you ready for Chapter 7? Yes? No? Maybe? C'mon, speak up! I can't hear you! Oh wait…I can't. xD**

**Ok, I'm rambling now. So…enjoy this chapter (although it seems filler-ish), and keep your eyes peeled for the next update! :)**


	7. Why was he feeling like this?

**A/N: *wipes tear* Over 20 reviews...you guys are awesome! :)**

**As usual, here's Chapter 7 of this story. I must admit, it was a bit difficult to write, but hope you like.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Seven: Why was he feeling like this?<strong>_

Jade remained silent, her arms crossed, as she walked through the hallway, Beck at her side, and out of the school.

Her mind was swarming with thoughts about the play...about _him_. Especially the way she got jealous, actually felt real jealousy, at the very thought of Tori 'claiming' Robbie like that - even if it was only a stage play.

She glanced at Beck, who was holding her around her shoulder, and sighed softly.

That now-familiar feeling came back. She felt bad about Beck, about the fact that it wasn't fair to him. He was so sweet to her, sticking with her while she was pining for another boy. That was exactly why she felt bad.

But her feelings were now too strong to put down for too long; in fact, it was just as strong as she had felt for Beck when they first dated two years ago.

She loved Beck, yes, but she knew that the way things were going, she would do something she would regret if she continued to date Beck despite her attraction to Robbie.

She couldn't do that to Beck, even if her feelings for him had...changed recently.

And so...she would have to...

Break up with Beck Oliver.

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><p>Robbie was sprawled face-down on his bed, Rex sitting beside him. No sooner had he pulled into the driveway of his house (a bit too fast that he'd almost went through the sliding door) did Robbie rush into his house, bound up the stairs three steps a time, and lock himself in his room.<p>

His parents were still at work. They would, they were working late as of lately.

"So, you wanna talk about that?" Rex said, a bit sarcastically.

Robbie mumbled something into his pillow.

"What was that? Speak a bit louder."

Sighing, Robbie pushed himself off the bed and turned on his back, heaving a sigh as he looked at the ceiling.

"It's just that...there's so much in my mind-it's hard to explain-but, uh, it's just that-" He began to stutter. His mind was feeling...befuddled, confusing, that kind of feeling.

"It's about this thingy with Jade and Tori, isn't it?" Rex inquired knowingly.

Robbie remained silent, confirming that Rex was correct on this. "...yes, but that's not the only thing that's on my mind." He muttered as the words that were tormenting him coursed through his mind for what seemed like an umpteenth time.

_"...you should like a girl because she makes you happy, and is the right one for you"_

_"I want Robbie, and I'm taking him!"_

And so on.

"Is that about your newfound attraction to Jade?"

"WHAT?" Robbie gasped in shock as he turned to Rex. "W-what are you talking about?" He surely couldn't be _attracted_ to Jade. Surely, despite her meanness toward him, Jade actually helped him out a bit. But that didn't mean he would fall for Jade..._could he_? She was dating Beck, for Pete's sake!

"I said, 'is that about your newfound attraction to Jade?'" Rex reiterated in a mocking tone. "That's what I'm talking about, man!"

Robbie blinked his eyes at that before he shook his head. "No, I'm not attracted to Jade. Why would you think of that?"

If he could shrug his shoulder, Rex would've done that. "Just a hunch." The dummy said, off-handedly. Rex then turned his head toward Robbie and leaned a bit closer.

"But, seriously, it may be a possibility. Perhaps you did have a thing for Jade from the onset, but you didn't realize it because you were too busy obsessing over Trina and Cat." Rex continued. "Have you thought that the right girl may have been in front of you all these times?"

Robbie was silent as he blinked at Rex. Was this seriously the same Rex who had mocked him that morning, who had repeatedly stated numerous times in his life that he would never be loved by a girl (and other variant of that), along with too many things?

But...Rex did had a point there, _sort of_.

Placing his head back on the pillow, Robbie began to think not only about the events in school that day, but also about...Jade herself.

Since he first met her a couple of years ago, Robbie had always thought Jade was a very attractive girl, although in a sort of menacing way. At least, that was what he had thought at first.

Time had been kind to Jade as the years went by.

Her dark hair (which was always tinted with different colors over the years) cascaded down her face, her dark eyes could see right through him at times, her lips were pouty and perfectly kis-_ehm_ (Robbie had to contain a blush), and her eyebrows were arched perfectly. On top of that, she had developed curves in all the right places, she had developed...quite a _chest_ (not that he actually looked there, mind you), and she _always_ looked great in her dark, tight-fitting clothes that showed off her figures perfectly.

In short, she was _beautiful_.

Not that he could actually tell her that, mainly because she could either beat him up using Rex as a bat, or cut him into pieces using the scissors she decorated her locker (which was located right next to his) with. Or worse.

But _still..._

Wait, what was this that he was feeling? Why was he feeling like this? Why did it feel so...familiar? No, it couldn't be...it _couldn't_ be..

Robbie's eyes widened as he felt his heart beat faster at the thought of her. Not of Trina, not Cat, but Jade.

Was he...? No, it couldn't be-it wasn't possible...

But he was. It was possible, and it scared him.

He was slowly falling for Jade West.

* * *

><p>Robbie Shapiro trudged into Sikowitz's class the next day, looking very tired.<p>

Dimly aware of his friends' concerned looks, especially..._her_, Robbie made his way to his seat, plopping down on it.

"Hey, you ok? You seem like you didn't get enough sleep last night." Andre said for what seemed like the umpteenth time. He, along with the others (especially Jade and Tori) had noticed Robbie's strange behavior, especially at lunch.

"As I told you...I didn't get enough sleep last night." Robbie said tiredly, shrugging. Rex spoke up after that. He could see Tori, Beck, and..._her_ look at him with concern.

"That's because you were up all night, twisting and turning, thinking about J-mmph!" The dummy was saying before he was cut off.

"Rex!" Robbie had, with a burst of energy he didn't know he had, covered Rex's mouth with his hand.

But what Rex tried to say was true, Robbie had to admit mentally to himself. For much of the night, he had tossed and turned for hours on end, unable to get some sleep because there was so much in his mind, so much to the point that his mind was virtually swirling with thoughts of Jade. He finally went to sleep at around three in the morning, and considered it a miracle that he was actually able to get up on time for school.

Before Andre or the others could question him any more, Sikowitz entered the classroom-through the window. He usually did that, so it wasn't something out of the ordinary (although it was still strange).

"Class! I just had a vision, thanks to this coconut juice!" He announced dramatically as he pointed at his coconut. The class groaned.

But Robbie wasn't listening to the rest of Sikowitz's announcement, partly because of his tiredness and partly because of the new revelation (or specifically his feelings for a certain girl named Jade West).

"...vision told me that alphabet improv was the way to go, and so it shall be! Tori, Andre, Jade, and Robbie, go!" Sikowitz gestured at the front as he walked to a seat midst the students and sat down on it.

Robbie groaned, but he got up from his seat, taking Rex with him.

"Robbie, you can't bring that puppet of yours-you know what? Nevermind." Sikowitz opened his mouth to speak, but he seemed to freeze up a bit before stuttering a bit.

Apparently, Jade gave Sikowitz her famous death glare from behind Robbie.

Tori, Andre, and Jade took their places, while Robbie took his.

"What letter should we begin with?" Tori asked Sikowitz, who shrugged.

"I guess you can start with...H! Go!" He waved them to go ahead, sipping from his coconut.

Tori rolled her eyes before turning toward Andre and Jade. She glanced at Robbie before gesturing at him.

"Hey, you notice that Gabe there looks down?" She asked.

Jade raised an eyebrow as she glanced at Robbie. "I noticed." She said in a deadpan voice, when in actuality she was concerned.

"Just leave me alone", Robbie muttered. Tori looked at him with concern.

"Keep on asking him what's wrong! He'll break down sooner or later!" Rex laughed. Jade and Tori glared at him.

"Let's do that." Andre surprised Tori and Jade, and they glared at him in return, making him put his hands up.

"Man, I don't want to talk about it." Robbie protested. Didn't they have to make some pretend story or something?

"No, you don't, but we have to do it anyways" Tori pointed out.

"Oh, looks like someone's being pushy today," Jade sneered. Tori glared at her.

"Pushy? I'm not!"

"Quite you're not." Jade retorted sarcastically. She glanced briefly at Robbie.

"Relax, girls. Let's try to get along, will we?" Andre suggested, looking between Tori and Jade.

"She needs to relax first!" Tori protested, pointing at Jade.

Jade snorted. "That's what the pushy one said."

"Unbelievable." Robbie sighed.

"Very true, that." Andre agreed.

"Why?" Rex piped in.

"Beca-oh shi-!" Andre groaned as Sikowitz called him out.

"Your next letter was supposed to be X, sorry Andre." Sikowitz said as Andre trudged back to his seat, grumbling. Rex laughed.

"X marks the spot where I don't want to be in right now." Robbie muttered.

"Yet, you're in that spot." Jade teased.

"Zen! I am the Zen!" Rex drawled. Everyone looked at him weirdly.

"Are you for real?" Tori said.

"Because I'm the Zen? Yeah, I'm for real. You can feel me if you like." Rex said the last part a bit suggestively. Tori looked grossed out.

"Can it!" Robbie snapped at the puppet.

"Don't hurt me, please!" Rex whined. Robbie rolled his eyes.

"Even though that puppet of yours is extremely annoying." Jade said.

"Freakishly annoying." Tori added in.

"Gosh, we actually agree on something." Jade exclaimed sarcastically, putting her hand on her chest. Robbie for some reason found that cute.

Before Tori could reply, Jade turned to Robbie. "Hey, do you…like _anyone_?"

Robbie blinked as he felt his heartbeat sped a bit.

"I…I do." He admitted as he sighed.

"Just who is she?" Tori inquired, getting near Robbie.

"Keep your filthy paws away from Gabe." Jade growled. Tori glared.

Robbie began to open his mouth before he got cut off.

"Let's have a cat fight! Go! Go! Go!" Rex cackled.

"Man, can't you shut up?" Robbie complained. Rex pretended to think this over.

"Not if you do that first!"

"Oh, come on! Stop tormenting Gabe!" Tori sighed, glaring at Rex.

The ABC improv continued, without missing a single letter. Finally, Jade managed to get Tori eliminated when she'd managed to trick her into missing the latter, F. ("Eat your pants!" "_You_ eat your—wait!").

Smirking as she watched Tori walk back to her seat, Jade turned her attention to Robbie. Finally, she had him right where she wanted…wait, there was one last obstacle in the way. Rex.

"Fun, isn't it?" She batted her eyes at the dummy.

"Indeed—no, wait!" Rex protested as Robbie carried him back to his seat, placed him there, and went back to his initial position.

'Score one for Jade.' She thought to herself, triumphantly.

"Good job." Robbie chuckled. He then pretended like his head went dizzy.

"Head feels dizzy." He muttered. Jade looked at him, concerned before she had an idea.

"I know how to make you feel better."

Robbie raised an eyebrow.

"Just….how?" He asked, feeling his heart begin to beat faster at the….sultry expression on Jade's face.

"Kiss me." At this, Robbie felt his mind go blank as several students gasped.

"T-that was unexpected!" Sikowitz exclaimed.

Before Robbie could open his mouth, he felt Jade's hands cup his face and pull him toward her face. As he neared her lips, he subconsciously closed his eyes (however, he noticed her doing the same). Just when their lips were millimeters apart—

**BRRRRING!**

The loud bell snapped them out of their 'trance' and Robbie sprang apart from Jade, his heart hammering. Sikowitz was clapping as he stood from his chair. "Splendid! Splendid! You all exceeded my expectations, good job!" He went on to explain something for tomorrow's class, as usual.

As students left the classroom, Robbie felt like he was in a daze as he clutched Rex in his hands.

Jade had nearly kissed him.

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><p><strong>AN: Eeech, I really don't like the ending that much, but I didn't know how to put it other way. Anyways, here's Chapter 7. Hope you liked.**

**As always, review! Reviews are one of the greatest things an author can receive. ;)**


	8. Thinking again

**A/N: Ta-da! Here's Chapter 8! Hope you like.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 8: Thinking again<strong>_

To say Beck Oliver was shocked was a major understatement.

He certainly didn't expect Jade to try to kiss Robbie like that, right in front of him, even if it was only a part of an ABC improv.

As students got up around him and began leaving the classroom, Beck remained on his seat, thoughts running through his mind.

'Was that who Jade was glancing at yesterday...?' Beck wondered as he looked at Robbie, who seemed to be in a daze as he stiffly picked Rex up and walked out of the room.

'No, it couldn't be...could it?' He mulled over this for the umpteenth time that day as he looked at Jade, who seemed to have a preoccupied face, the same expression he had seen the day before, as she walked toward him. He shook his head to try to clear his mind.

"Good job, you did good." Beck plastered on a grin as he stood up. Jade nodded, albeit a bit absentmindedly.

"Thanks." She said simply as she picked up her bag.

Beck remained silent as he placed his arm around his girlfriend and strolled out of the room, his thoughts back on Jade once again and especially her...rather _strange_ behavior. Since he had noticed it, and swore to find out what it was, Beck was been observing Jade closely (he wasn't a stalker, mind you).

And it was during today that he began noticing..._things_ that he wondered how he had missed out otherwise in the past. He didn't miss the glances Jade seemed to give in the direction of Robbie when she thought anyone wasn't looking, both in the hallway and at lunch today. He certainly noticed the small smiles Jade had on her face whenever Robbie was around. All that type of stuff.

The stares and smiles weren't the only aspects Beck noticed; the way Jade was behaving toward him had become different, albeit in a subtle way. Jade didn't get jealous as much as she used to be whenever he talked (or even looked in a vague direction of) to pretty girls. Their conversations had become...more shorter than it had, and Jade didn't cuddle him as much (or as strongly) as she used to.

And funnily enough, Beck noticed the same about himself. He didn't feel like he wanted to spend time with her as much as he used to be; he didn't have as much an urge to rile Jade up with jealousy as he used to do in the past. He increasingly hung out with other friends (such as helping his friend Michael move into a new house and the like). Perhaps more surprisingly, he found that the moments where he thought about her when he went to sleep and woke in the morning were increasingly rare.

_It was as if he and Jade were drifting apart..._

Anyways, back to the matter at hand, if his suspicions had been slowly growing over the course of the day, it was jumpstarted by the almost-kiss Jade had tried to give Robbie in Sikowitz's class. Given the fact that this was a stage play, Beck had reckoned that Jade could've chosen something other for the letter 'K', and yet she chose to try to kiss Robbie.

So...was Robbie the object of his girlfriend's new affections? That was what Beck wondered.

Still, as suspicious he was, Beck wasn't going to confront Jade about that, mainly because it would make him a hypocrite (he never forgot that he had kissed Tori Vega about a year ago, in an ABC improv play). That, and he was too cool a guy and too respectful a boyfriend to jump to conclusions. He wasn't the jealous one in the relationship.

However, speaking of jealousy, one of the strangest things Beck found was that he didn't feel as jealous or even overly concerned about the possibility of his girlfriend becoming attracted to someone else (even if it increasingly seemed to be Robbie) as he should be. He didn't know why, it just happened. Was he falling out of love of Jade, or something? He had been dating Jade for two years (and going out for several months since they got back together), so would it be possible that he wasn't as much in love with Jade as he had back in the beginning?

That was what Beck wondered to himself (and would over and over again), as he left Hollywood Arts with his girlfriend, and walked across the parking lot toward his car.

If Beck had something to admit to himself, he thought as he got into his car with Jade, it was that he had sorta been doing the same that Jade had probably done. For some time now, he had...developed a sort of attraction to a..._certain_ ditzy girl, and that it was getting harder and harder for him to resist it, despite the fact he loved Jade very much.

As he drove out of the parking lot, glancing at Jade, Beck thought he would try to figure something out of all this, both the possibility of his and Jade's possible attraction to someone other than each other.

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><p>Robbie found himself thinking...<em>again<em>.

He found himself doing that quite a lot lately. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about Jade, about how she looked beautiful, about how-everything about her. But most especially, he kept thinking about that near-kiss in Sikowitz's class that day.

It was surely surreal, and Robbie knew it.

Why, merely a day before, he had been thinking about Cat and Trina - although he could not help but wonder if Jade had been on his mind that time and he just didn't realize it until recently.

Reaching into his pocket, Robbie pulled the folded paper out and unfolded it. The title, 'Signs a Girl Likes You' stared him back, as if daring him to try to decipher a girl's possible feelings for him.

Feeling a headache coming in, Robbie groaned. "I don't know what to do." He thought aloud to himself as he sat on his beanbag in his room.

"Ask Jade out." Rex's voice piped up.

"Are you crazy, or something? Jade's dating Beck. I can't do that!" Robbie protested. Rex laughed.

"Oh, right. I forget sometimes. I'm a puppet, after all." Rex laughed. "I would love to see you try, anyways."

Robbie rolled his eyes. "You're not helping!"

"And you expected otherwise, lover boy?"

Robbie didn't say anything as he slumped further into his beanbag chair, delving into his thoughts as he stared blankly at the paper in his hands.

Ask Jade out...? He blushed a little as Jade's beautiful face popped into his mind. His mind began to wonder what it would be like to date Jade West...to hold her...to tell he loved her...to kiss her...

...to _taste_ these soft, _pouty_ lips that had so nearly kissed him...

"Eugh! I don't know what to do!" Robbie combed his fingers through his hair.

"Thus the life of Robbie Shapiro." Rex remarked.

"Rex!"

"What? I was only stating a fact!" Rex defended himself. When Robbie didn't say anything, the dummy sighed. "Fine. I'll cut you a little slack...for now. One can only take so much of your weird spaced-out looks and your wet dreams about Jade."

Rex could never get enough of the scandalized expression on his best friend's face.

"Anyways..." Rex continued before Robbie could get a word in otherwise. "If I really was to make a suggestion, I would refer you to that 'guide' of yours to figure out Jade's true feelings, y'know, that same weird thingy you did with Trina and Cat yesterday? Then you do something about that."

Robbie remained silent still, letting his best friend's words sink in. He could do that...yeah, that was good advice. But...what if it didn't work out?

"Well, I didn't say it would work out for you. Not that it usually worked out for you, of course." Rex drawled. "But you gotta take the risk, man! Take the risk!"

Robbie nodded, smiling a bit as he turned to Rex. "Thanks, man. I might do that. You're the best, you know?"

"Ew, don't get mushy with me, man."

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><p>Jade West found herself waiting at her locker the next morning at Hollywood Arts, sipping her daily morning coffee.<p>

Although she looked deadpan as usual on the outside, she was actually feeling jittery and nervous inside as she thought about the boy (no, young man) whose locker was located right next to hers.

Jade smiled to herself as thoughts about Robbie went through her mind once again, and found herself blush a little as she thought about how adorable Robbie looked. That, however, was replaced by a sense of disappointment about how close..._tantalizingly_ close she had come to kissing him before that blasted bell chose to ring and ruin the moment.

She had never hated bells so much before as she did now.

"Jade! Hi Jade!" Jade snapped out of her thoughts as she saw Cat bop over to her, a cheerful grin on her face.

When was that girl never sad?

"Hey Cat." She said in her usual tone, smirking at her.

"I was sleeping last night, and you know what? I was dreaming about unicorns! Oh, they looked so pink and pretty! Oh! Oh! And they were flying too. I rode one!" Cat nodded jovially as she gestured dramatically with her hands. Jade rolled her eyes as she mentally blocked Cat out.

She sometimes wondered what Robbie saw in Cat-here she was, thinking about her Robbie once again.

Yeah, she had it bad.

"Where did the unicorns take you, Cat?" Beck's amused voice came out of nowhere.

Jade blinked as she looked to see Beck standing near her, looking cool and handsome as usual. As she looked at her boyfriend, she reflected on how her feelings toward him had..._changed_. She no longer got that 'love-struck' feelings she used to get when she was with Beck; her heart didn't flutter as much whenever she saw him; and she didn't feel any sparks anymore in the kisses she shared with him (and not to mention, kissing Beck now increasingly felt like kissing...a friend).

She now saw Beck in a different light. He was like a..._friend_ now. She loved him, yes, but only as a friend now.

That was why she had to break up with him, and for some reasons she wasn't looking forward to it. Not because she wanted to be with him any longer, but because she knew breaking up was the hardest thing to do, with all the drama related to it.

Yes, it probably was ironic, given that she had easily broken up with him last time. But that was because they were in a heated argument, and she was too fired up with anger and jealousy. Yes...it was definitely easier that time.

Jade sighed as she looked at Beck and Cat and back again. Wait...she'd swore her eyes were tricking her, but she could see the way Beck was looking at Cat, while she was babbling away about how the unicorn took her to Dreamland, or something like that (she didn't care). It was similar to the way he had always looked at her. She felt a slight twinge of jealousy, but that was it. She didn't feel angry or anything like this.

In fact, she felt...somehow grateful about it (was that even the right word?). If Beck and Cat got together, any chances of Cat snatching Robbie would vanish...and she would free to claim him...Robbie...

"Hey Beck, Cat, and Jade."

But then, there was Tori.

Jade scowled a little at the sight of the brunette as she walked toward the group, Andre besides her. Here was Miss Perfect, who conspired to take away anyone who she had an interest. First Beck, now...Robbie. She didn't forget the way Tori 'fought' for Robbie for the class play, neither did she miss the fact that Tori had all but questioned about Robbie's mood in the ABC improv.

Did Tori have a thing for Robbie, or what? She felt intense jealousy briefly course through her as she thought about Tori and Robbie together. She didn't like it one bit.

"Vega." She spat out.

Tori looked confused. "Whoa, seems something's bothering you. What did I do?" Beck looked laidback as usual, while Cat looked a bit concerned.

'You know what you did.' Jade thought to herself as she glared at Tori, sipping her coffee. 'You're trying to get your claws on my Ro-'

"Hey guys."

That..._voice_. It was him.

Jade found her heart begin to flutter, and butterflies swarming in her stomach, as she saw Robbie walk down the hallway, holding Rex in his arms. However, what she noticed was that Robbie looked a bit..._different_. Instead of his nerdy (yet cute) clothes, Robbie was wearing a fairly nice striped polo shirt coupled with tight jeans. His hair was still the same, though.

She felt her blush as she took in his appearance, discreetly scanning him up and down.

'Niiiice.' She almost purred mentally to herself. Almost.

As Robbie walked over to his locker after greeting, and chatting, with his friends (Jade, for her part, had greeted with a "hey nerd"), Jade felt self-conscious as he looked over at her and smiled before opening his locker.

She gave herself a quick look over, her heart now pounding, hoping Robbie would like it. (Although she thought she heard Rex say, "Tell her!," behind Robbie's locker in a hushed tone, and Robbie saying "Not now!" in an equally hushed tone.)

Before she could think any further on it...

**BRRRRING!**

That was that blasted bell again. That bell that interrupted her chances to kiss Robbie.

Jade sighed to herself as she finished her coffee and threw it away. She glanced at Robbie, only to find him looking back. He looked away. She felt herself smile, her thoughts on Robbie while she went to her classes.

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><p><strong>AN: Phew, that took a while to write out. Hope Beck isn't too OOC, it's a bit hard to write him.**

**Anyways, enjoy. And don't forget to review! :)**


	9. Only a matter of time

**A/N: Hai my readers! I, GallaudetLurker, is back, and with a new chapter! I suppose there are a couple of chapters or so left for _'Do She Like Me'?_ Hope you like this chapter, I suppose Robbie and Jade will kis-well, you all will find out, heh.**

**Also, I'm considering writing another Rade story, but I'm running a bit short with ideas (it's a wonder that I'm still able to chug along with this story, lol). So, PM me about any ideas you might have. :)**

**Without further ado, enjoy!**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Nine: Only a matter of time<strong>_

"Ready to snatch your goth lady's heart, eh?" Rex smirked.

"Rex! That's not right!"

"Oh, you're right. I was not polite. I apologize for my shameful actions." Rex said, unconvincingly.

Robbie rolled his eyes as he walked into the cafeteria. Grabbing a tray, Robbie got his food and weaved around the crowded lunch tables, looking for the table he usually hung out with his friends.

As he did so, Robbie thought back about how he had followed Rex's advice and decided to figure out Jade's feelings - but not in too obvious a way - and to try to capture Jade West's heart.

However, Robbie found out several _thoughts_ that had crossed his minds a few times before while he was thinking of Jade resurfaced. While such thoughts were not frequent, and while he was able to brush them aside, they nevertheless gave him pangs of doubt that had caused him to put some thoughts about his feelings for Jade.

A few times, Robbie had wondered if he was falling into love too fast. He had never gotten a girlfriend before, much less get one who was interested in him, so he had this...penchant for falling into love for any girl who shown even the slightest 'interest' in him. That happened with Trina and Cat, and look how that turned out.

Did he really want a repeat of Trina? Knowing Jade, whatever embarrassment or humiliation she would dish out would certainly be far worse than what Trina could do. And did he mention that Jade was still dating Beck?

He had wondered to himself several times if he was good enough for Jade. She was a fairly popular girl, high on the school's social ladder. He was a nerd and a geek; why would she be attracted to him? Furthermore, he had known her for two years, and that she had been dating Beck for that long, so he had to admit that for her to suddenly fall in love with him would be a far-fetched proposition.

Perhaps more important, what if he was falling for the wrong girl..._again_? His conscience didn't exactly say Jade was his promised girl or something like that; it merely told him that he would "find love...with an unexpected person, a person [he] didn't think [he] were going to be with." And that was ambiguous enough.

However, as these doubting thoughts were threatening to flood him, they were driven back by positive thoughts. Such thoughts went as follows:

'If Jade really didn't like you, she wouldn't have cared to actually give you advice. She would've simply ignored you and continued on, and yet she didn't.'

'If she wasn't interested in you, she wouldn't have tried to kiss you like that in class. She would have easily chose another action.'

Along with the usual 'girls love nerds even if they don't admit' thingy, Robbie got this feeling that he should listen to his heart, that he would know.

Sometimes he felt like there was an angel and devil standing on his shoulders, where the angel was encouraging him to pursue Jade, that it would be worth the risk, and the devil was claiming Jade would laugh in his face, that untold humiliation would await him if he pursued Jade.

Robbie always felt inclined to take the angel's side - although he had to admit that the devil's words gave him some pause. He increasingly got a feeling in his heart that he should pursue Jade - but perhaps he should try to take it slowly, one step at a time.

Mentally shaking his head, Robbie looked for his friends in the crowded cafeteria - and found them at last. He felt his heart lurch at the sight of Jade, who looked pretty as usual. However, the sight of Beck sitting next to her reminded him that Jade was taken.

Sighing, Robbie greeted his friends with a smile, and was greeted in return, while Rex greeted with a cocky "what's up babes?" Cat grabbed him and yanked him into the seat next to her, nearly causing him to drop his tray and Rex.

"Whoa! Kitty, you nearly made Robbie drop me! I shatter easily!" Rex protested, making Cat pout.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn'-"

"Rex! Behave yourself! Don't listen to him. It's not your fault." Robbie reassured Cat, who was instantly happy, clapping her hands excitedly. Had Robbie looked over at Jade, he would have noticed her jealous scowl; a glance at Beck would have indicated a spark of jealousy in his eyes, although his expression was relaxed as usual.

"Oh, you shatter easily? Could I test that?" Jade spoke up, smirking. Rex gasped.

"You're not gonna let that witch take me-aren't you?" Rex turned to Robbie.

Glancing at Jade, Robbie smiled a little. "Hm, I might consider doing that. I thought you were popular with girls?" He joked. The group chuckled; Jade, in particular, covered up her giggle.

"So," Andre opened his mouth to speak. "Who's going to the dance?" He looked around the table. A close scrutiny would indicate that Andre's gaze _lingered_ on Tori a bit.

"You mean the Hollywood Arts Danceathon?" Beck inquired.

Tori looked confused. "What's that?" Jade smirked at that.

"Aw, does Miss Vega not know? My, what will we do?" Jade mocked in a 1940s accent. Tori glared. "How many times do I have to say it, I do not speak like that!"

"The Hollywood Arts Danceathon is sorta like a Sadie Hawkins dance and prom combined together It is held once every year, similar to the Full Moon Jam." Beck spoke up before Jade could retort. Andre continued where Beck left off, "It's sorta a prom where boys and girls go together and stuff like that. It's a Sadie Hawkins because the girl has to ask the boy out first - and the boy has to accept."

Robbie raised his eyebrows, while Tori looked like she wanted to ask questions.

"The girl has to ask the boy out first? Aw, here goes your chance, Rob. No girl is gonna ask you." Rex taunted him. Jade glared at the puppet, while Robbie groaned. "Do you have to say that?"

"Well, I nee-" Rex was cut off when Jade interjected.

"Look who's speaking. You're some wooden puppet with no life of itself. Yeah, girls are gonna be swarming all over you." Jade taunted. Rex placed a hand over his heart.

"Ouch, that...hurt, it actually hurt." Rex said as he looked at Robbie. "No wonder you like them mean, vicious girl-" Robbie immediately covered Rex's mouth with a slight blush. "Don't listen to him. He says weird things sometimes." He passed it off with a shrug.

Beck and Andre looked at them with a 'what the' expression on their faces before Tori asked the question: "So...supposedly the girl asks out the boy, the boy has to accept, no questions asked?"

"No question asked." Andre confirmed, nodding. Tori then smiled.

"I wonder who will ask me this year?" Cat voiced her thoughts aloud.

* * *

><p>Jade didn't like the expression and smile on Tori's face one bit. It looked like Tori was up to something...<em>again<em>.

'She better not ask Robbie out...' She scowled. 'If she does, I swear I will-'

"You ok? You look like something's bothering you." Beck's voice called out.

Jade blinked as she snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just thinking of something. It's nothing, anyways." She brushed it off. Feeling Robbie's eyes on her, Jade fought off a blush.

Beck nodded.

'That was a close call.' Jade thought to herself as her mind shifted to her feelings for Robbie. So far, she was able to conceal her secret feelings, but it was increasingly becoming _harder_ over time. Her friends were beginning to notice her strange behavior, even Beck.

In short, it was only a matter of time before her crush on Robbie was revealed, and Jade was afraid of that.

Jade remembered that moment earlier today, after her first class finished.

* * *

><p><em><strong>FLASHBACK<strong>_

As she walked out of her Science class, she was grumbling mentally to herself of how boring that class was. However, she felt herself begin to smile as she thought about him.

He looked so _cute_ today.

His 'afro' hair was as curly as ever, and she wondered what it would feel like to run her hands through his hair. His glasses were cute in a geeky way (in a good way!), and his lips had never looked so..._kissable_ (she noticed that she had been thinking about his lips lately, about what it would feel like to kiss him). While Robbie, admittedly, didn't have a perfect figure like Beck's, he nevertheless looked good. His clothes fit Robbie's lanky body rather well, and she noticed he was developing something of biceps (must be from lifting that..._perverted_ dummy around).

And then...here he was. Jade felt a jolt as she saw Robbie off in the distance. He seemed to be arguing with his dummy, Rex or something. Time seemed to slow down as she watched Robbie with a smile, until...

"Hey, who you looking at? Ohh, I see Robbie!" A cheerful voice came out of nowhere, scaring Jade. "Hi Robbie!" Cat called out, waving her hand wildly in the air. Robbie didn't notice or hear her, however.

"C-cat! You scared me! Don't do that again!" Jade whirled around, grabbing her hand and putting it down, fixing her with a glare. Cat tilted her head and looked a bit sad.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to come over and say hi." Jade sighed softly as she let go of Cat's hand.

"Sorry, it's just that I have quite a bit on my mind." Jade muttered. Cat seemed to perk up a bit. "Ohh, what is it about? You can tell me!"

Jade raised an eyebrow. If Cat thought she was going to tell her about what was occupying her mind - alas, her secret crush on Robbie - then she had another thing coming.

"Just stuff." Jade shrugged it off. She, however, was unprepared for what came next.

"Do you like Robbie?"

It was an innocent question, but it made Jade almost choke on her spit and she coughed a couple of times before gaping at her incredulously. Trying to contain the blood that were flooding to her face, and ignoring the feeling of adrenaline through her body, Jade pasted on a disgusted scowl on her face.

"What, you think I like Robbie? As in like-like that nerd?" She spat out while her mind were screaming, 'yes! yes, you do!' "No, I don't like him! If you forgot something, I'm dating Beck."

Cat fidgeted a bit as she played with the ends of her magenta hair. "Oh. It's just that you were staring at him, and I noticed that. That's all."

Jade stared at Cat blankly. If Cat Valentine - the girl who had the shortest attention span - noticed that something was up, that she was staring at Robbie, then...

Did the others notice that? Even...Robbie himself? She hoped not, but she wondered if her facade was wearing off. If anything else, she now found herself in a difficult situation.

Hiding her feelings from her friends and secret crush wasn't the only difficult thing Jade has had to do as of lately. It was equally as difficult to insult him and feeling bad about it afterwards. She hated to do this, to see the crestfallen look on his face whenever she said something insulting at him.

But she had to. It was part of her character; it was what she was supposed to do. That was what she had been doing for over two years, and she had to continue doing that - no matter how much she wanted on the contrary. That was sometimes why she lashed out at him at times, because it was so...frustrating, to have to put him down and not smother him with kisses like she really wanted.

"No, I wasn't staring at him or anything." She lied to cover up her shock. "Say, you looking forward that Cat Show in the auditorium?" She subtly changed the topic to distract Cat.

It worked.

"Ooooh, yeah! I'm so excited! You see, it has so many of my favorite things in it, like a cat-hey, it's like they named the show after me! You see, my na-"

_Brilliantly_.

_**FLASHBACK END**_

* * *

><p>Jade sighed softly as she blinked out of her flashback. The others were still chatting away, oblivious to her spacing out. Feeling a set of eyes on her, she turned to catch Robbie looking at him with a...<em>thoughtful<em> look on his face. Looking like he was caught, Robbie smiled and mouthed 'are you okay?'

Feeling the corner of her lips curl up, Jade nodded.

Glancing at Beck, Jade sighed once again as she figured out what she was going to have to do. Break up with Beck...and...

Tell Robbie, and hope he felt the same way.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Heh, it's fun to write Cat. She's so sweet and innocent, lol. Anyways, here's chapter 9. Hope you liked.**

**And yeah, I made this 'Hollywood Arts Danceathon' thingy up. I have lousy imagination, lol. **

****Also, can you identify any of the three pairings that will be in this story? If you get all correct, you shall receive an update as soon as I can. Get it incorrect...well, I won't update until I get at least 40 reviews AND after ZenNoMai updates his story, 'Perfect to me'. *smirks evilly*****

**Hint: read the story, and review! And review! Oh, did I mention review? Yeah, review. Do that, yeah.**


	10. Friends?

**A/N: ****Before I continue, I would like to announce the results. Y'all reviewers got it...right! The pairings for this story are Rade, Bat, and Tandre! Y'all make me so happy. :)**

**So, as I promised, here's Chapter 10, with another update on the way soon. Hope you don't mind that I moved the story along a bit, given that the first nine chapters occurred in the space of a few days (imagine that, huh? lol), and I felt the story would drag on a bit if I wrote about every day of the week.**

**With that...enjoy the chapter!**

**(Oh, one more thing. In this chapter, Beck an- *is shot*)**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Ten: Friends?<strong>_

"Ask her out! What are you waiting for?"

Robbie sighed as he looked at Rex with an exasperated expression on his face. "Rex, I'm not going to do that...at least not yet. She's still dating Beck."

"So break them up!"

"No, Rex! I could never do that!"

"That's why you're a wuss."

"_Rex!_"

"What? It's true, I'm only calling them the way I see them."

Robbie shook his head as he walked across the parking lot to Hollywood Arts. As he did so, his mind took him back to the last seven days. When he had...started hanging out with Jade.

It had been a week since Robbie first set out to figure Trina and Cat's feelings for him. A week since Jade gave him advice in that hallway. A week since Tori and Jade 'fought' over him in the stage play.

Since then, any feelings Robbie have had for Trina and Cat had all but disappeared (or to be more precise, diminished), mainly because he found he had become attracted to Jade - of which would only grow more stronger every day. Since the day Robbie had opted to take things slowly in figuring out Jade's feelings, he found himself growing closer to Jade as time drew on.

For starters, Robbie found himself spending more time together with Jade, be it in the hallway and the cafeteria (and one time at the Jet Brew coffee shop alone with her) with his usual friends (no, not Sinjin and his crew). He slowly came to realize that he had begun to sit next to Jade - or at least very near her - and she to him, in classes and the cafeteria. A few times he felt his hand (or arm or leg) brush up against hers - and every time he felt something of a..._spark_. He wondered if she felt the same.

Little did he know, she did.

As he thought about it, Robbie had sworn that on several occasions when he was sitting next to Jade, her body seemed to be aligned toward him. It was probably his imagination, but he had noticed that Jade appeared to be mirroring some of his movements (for instance, when he shifted his seat a bit in Sikowitz's class, she did the same). He had caught Jade looking at him several times, of which she either looked away or continued to look back at him with a small smile. There was that one time when he had dared to poke her in the side (playfully, of course), she had surprised him by poking him back.

Robbie found himself chuckling silently to himself as he remembered the time he had invited, actually invited, Jade to go to his house once. It was on Tuesday that he had blurted out a "Do you want to visit my house and meet my parents?" Bracing himself for probable rejection, he was actually surprised when Jade accepted his invitation.

At first, it had been slightly awkward as Robbie was unsure of what to say, and he never had a girl come in his room before. (And what Robbie didn't know was that Jade had never been to any of her friends' house before, except Beck, if you count his RV as a 'house.') It soon became comfortable as he chatted with her for hours. Since then, she went over there two times.

The blood began to steam into his face as Robbie remembered introducing Jade to his mother, who had to his utmost embarrassment indicated her approval. "Jade seems like a nice lady," Mrs. Shapiro had once whispered to Robbie, or at least attempted to whisper as Jade could still hear her, "If you want to date her, you have my approval. I'm sure your father would approve."

Robbie had never blushed so much before in his life. When he glanced over at Jade, she was blushing too. Rex could never have enough of it. He - whenever Jade wasn't over - mercilessly teased Robbie to no end, to Robbie's exasperation. (Although one time Rex said something to Jade that irked her and she promptly threw him out his bedroom window. To his surprise, Robbie didn't protest.)

As he walked through the front doors, and traversed through the increasingly crowded halls, Robbie thought about how he had felt comfortable around Jade. This was opposed to the past where he felt somewhat intimidated when he was in Jade's vicinity, due to her dark persona and penchant for sharp things. When one looked past her somehow rough attitude (especially toward Tori), she was actually fun to talk with. In fact, it was such to an extent that he didn't have to use Rex as an 'outlet' to say things he normally would not tell her directly.

If there was something Robbie learned from the last seven days, it was that - despite his _occasional_ discouraging thoughts and his cautiousness in approaching his feelings for Jade - he was falling harder for Jade every day.

And not to mention, the Hollywood Arts Danceathon was coming up in two weeks. For some time, Robbie had been hoping that Jade would ask him to the dance - even although it was a practical impossibility, not at least the fact that she was with Beck and would surely ask him out.

Robbie sighed as he looked at all the pretty girls chatting excitedly with their friends, and asking out the guys they liked.

Why couldn't he have that luck?

* * *

><p>Why won't he ask her to the dance? Or, rather, why won't she ask him to the dance? That was what Jade thought to herself before she answered her supposed rhetorical question. 'Because I'm with Beck', she sighed to herself, feeling a bit dejected.<p>

Jade glanced at Beck, who was driving. She was sitting in the passenger seat with her boyfriend, who had his eyes trained on the road before him. They were heading to school.

The H.A. Danceathon was coming up in a couple of weeks, and Jade knew that if she wasn't with Beck, she would have asked Robbie a long time ago. But, alas, this was not to happen.

All week, she had been trying to muster up the courage to break up with Beck, and yet she did, she backed away. It seems breaking up was officially the most difficult, and daunting, proposition that she would have to go through. She wasn't sure how Beck would react to it. Surely, she had been dating Beck for two years (a few months if one wanted to be specific), and should have known (or at least gotten an inkling) of how Beck would react. But her long-haired boyfriend was an enigmatic character, and she still didn't know much about him (heck, she didn't know he was a Canadian until well a year and a half into their relationship!)

But however Beck's reaction might be, Jade didn't want to go up to Beck and say, 'hey, you know what? I want to break up with you because I lost interest in you' or something like that. But at the same time, she didn't want to go behind Beck's back with Robbie. Despite her..._dark_ persona, Jade definitely knew better.

As she stared idly out the window, feeling the wind blow through her hair, Jade thought about the past week, when she had increasingly spent time with her Robbie.

Her lips began to curl up into a smile as she remember hanging out with Robbie in his room (no, they didn't do _that_ stuff, you perverts!). She remembered how easy it was to have a conversation with Robbie about all sorts of things (despite the awkwardness the first time she came into his room). She remembered them chatting until ten o'clock in the night, and Jade had been reluctant to leave Robbie when she was enjoying herself with him.

She blushed a little as memories of Robbie's mother's approval ("Jade seems like a nice lady. If you want to date her, you have my approval. I'm sure your father would approve") went through her mind; she blushed even more when she kissed him on the cheek when she left for the night. She giggled at the memory of the slightly-dazed expression on Robbie's face.

Her mind went further to wonder what would have happened if Jade had stayed at Robbie's for the rest of the night? Would they continue to chat, or would they do..._physical_ things? Like, in, Robbie pouncing on her and roaming her body with kis-

'Jade! Robbie is your friend! You can't think like that about him!' Jade berated herself mentally as she tried to fight off her expanding blush. She then sighed.

She would have to muster the courage to break up with Beck, preferably sooner than later, and pray that Tori doesn't ask Robbie out.

* * *

><p>As he walked toward his locker, Robbie noticed Andre standing by his locker off in the distance, seemingly deep in thought.<p>

Raising his eyebrows, Robbie turned to Rex. "It seems that something's bothering Andre. Should we check if he's okay?"

Rex stared back. "Man, you're worse than Cat." Robbie sighed.

"Come on, Rex."

"...fine. He still has beautiful skin, though." Robbie rolled his eyes and shook his head while he walked over to Andre. Andre was leaning back on his locker, his arms crossed, a far-away look in his eyes.

Clearing his throat, Robbie opened his mouth. "Hey Andre. You okay?" When he received no reply, Robbie decided to try again, this time placing a hand on his friend's shoulder and shaking it slightly.

"Hey Andre, you there? You ok?" Robbie asked as he shook Andre harder. Finally, Andre seemed to snap out of it with a slight jolt. "What? Wha-oh hey Robbie. What's up?" He said as he pasted on a smile.

"Yo, you forgot someone." Rex piped up. Andre rolled his eyes. "Hey Rex." He said simply as he turned to his locker, played a bit on the keyboard attached to his locker, and opened it.

Robbie glanced at the dummy before turning to Andre. "You ok? You seemed out of it there."

Andre chuckled. "Just got something on my head, man." He shrugged as he got some books out of his lockers and crammed them into his backpack. Robbie nodded slowly.

"Uh, any girls ask you to the dance yet?"

Andre gave him a weird stare before he shrugged. "No, not yet. I hope I will have a date for the dance, though. I'm gonna go to class now, so see ya later man." Andre walked off.

"Allright." Robbie shrugged as he made his way to his locker.

"Hey, do you think Andre likes someone?" Rex piped up. Robbie raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, it may be a possibility...why?"

"Well, the Danceathon is two weeks away, and no girl has asked Andre out yet, so there must be someone he's hoping will ask him! Not like it would happen to you, though."

Ignoring the last remark, Robbie nodded. "You have a point there...perhaps Andre likes someone. But who?"

"That's the question, Sherlock." Came the sarcastic reply.

Before Robbie could open his mouth to retort, he felt something poke him in his side. Jolting a bit, he turned around to find himself staring at Jade West, who smirked as she opened her locker.

Immediately, the usual feelings (heart beating, adrenaline coursing through his body, that stuff) flooded into him. Jade looked beautiful as usual. However, he noticed Beck near her. The taller man smiled. "Hey man." He said as he clapped Robbie on the shoulder.

"I'm gonna go to my locker, so see you in a bit." Beck said. Robbie could see Jade nod as she watched Beck walk away.

* * *

><p>Beck Oliver walked through the hallway. He took a quick glance behind to see Jade and Robbie chatting at their lockers.<p>

Turning back, he sighed as he grasped his backpack strap. _Yep_.

His girlfriend seemed to be getting closer to Robbie, and her actions over the past seven days confirmed it that Robbie, indeed, was the object of his Jade's affections.

..._wait_, should he even think of Jade as his? Considering the way things were going, Beck surmised that he indeed would think of Jade as his-that is, his friend.

As he reached his 'transparent' locker and opened it, Beck thought more about his relationship with Jade.

So...Jade liked Robbie. He could see it, in the way she acted around him and spoke to him. As a very famous saying went, actions speak louder than words, and this was certainly true in this case. The way he had been discreetly observing Jade, he saw the way she giggled at his jokes (even if they were unfunny), the way she sat close to him (one time, she didn't sit with him in Sikowitz's class), and the way she seemed to speak to him more..._animatedly_ than she did with him.

In short, Beck could see that Jade was acting toward Robbie the same way she used to when they first began dating. Although they behaved, or tried to behave, as if nothing much had changed, Beck knew better. He simply could see it. Once again, Beck's mind went back to how he felt about that. He...he...didn't really _feel_ much, actually. He didn't get mad or even feel jealous, or anything like that. He saw it, but that was it.

Nothing else.

But then there was something, or rather _someone_, else...

"Hi Beck!"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Beck felt his heart skip a beat or two as that...familiar, cheerful voice wafted through his ear and grasped his mind, and refuse to let go. The familiar sensation that coursed through his body felt inherently..._familiar_, almost like the way he used to feel around Jade.

Good thing he was a talented actor, Beck thought to himself as he pasted on a cool, detached expression on his face before turning to the voice.

Cat Valentine.

He had never saw anything - anyone - look so _beautiful_ as the red-haired girl (no, young woman) standing front of him with a wide smile. Beck swore he could feel himself get lost while he looked into her sparkling eyes...these brown orbs that seemed to radiate with joy and innocence.

'Get a hold of yourself, Beck!' He mentally berated himself as he blinked and smiled. "Hey Cat. How are you?" He greeted casually. She had no idea of how she caused these...feelings deep inside, he thought to himself.

"I'm pretty good! Thanks for asking." Cat chirped, grinning. "Actually, I'm pretty excited for the danceathon, it looks fun!" She said as she did that 'dance' (**A/N: Remember that 'dance' Cat did in front of Andre in iParty with Victorious, when he asked about where the giant panda was? Yeah that**).

Beck swore he had melted right there and then. She was so..._adorable, so beautiful..._

"Yeah, it does look fun." He found himself speak, a grin appearing on his face.

Cat nodded in agreement, her magenta hair bopping slightly. "That's why I can't wait!" She then got a curious expression on her face. "Hey, you gonna go to the dance? Jade ask you yet?"

Beck paused a bit as he thought about it. Given the way Jade had been acting the past week, there was probably a higher chance she would ask Robbie out instead of him...so, the answer would be no. There was someone he wished would ask him out...and that person was standing right in front of him.

In his 'observant' mood, Beck couldn't help but notice that Cat's voice had a..._certain_ twinge to it, that she seemed to frown when she asked about Jade asking him out. Was she..._jealous_?

"Not yet, she hasn't asked me to the dance." Beck found himself speaking. Cat smiled and nodded as she fidgeted a bit.

"Oh, I see." Cat seemed to pause for a bit. "Um, I-about the dance, I was wo-"

**BRRRRRING!**

The loud bell reverberated through the hallway, catching Cat off guard as she blushed.

"Um...nevermind! See you later, Beck!" She smiled as she walked away, her hair flying behind her.

As he stood at his locker, Beck felt..._something_ stir in him. Was it disappointment? Or was it...longing? Or something? He didn't know.

But one thing for sure, he never hated bells as much as he did right now.

Beck sighed heavily to himself as he grabbed a book from his locker and slammed it shut. There was one thing he had to do now, sooner or later.

Break up with Jade.

* * *

><p>Later on that night, Jade found herself in Beck's RV, sitting on a chair instead of his bed. When school had let out for the day, Beck had stated that he wanted to talk with her about something.<p>

She had been wondering about that, although she had...this _feeling_ that she somewhat knew what it was about.

And interestingly, she felt something of a pang of hope when she mulled over it, about the possibility of them-

"Hey Jade. Sorry it took a while. You know how parents can be." Beck's voice called out, interrupting Jade's thought. She looked over to see Beck entering the RV, and smiled at him.

Beck walked over to the bed and sat down. He looked..._preoccupied_ about something, as if he had been wanting to talk about something but had yet to get it off his chest.

Was it about his trip to Canada that he had told her about before? Or...was it something other? That was what Jade wondered to herself as she watched Beck. She felt like she wanted to say something, like it was just on the tip of her tongue, but at the same time, she didn't know what to say.

The silence in the RV was...deafening.

Finally, Beck spoke. "Uh, as I told you before, I, uh, wanted to talk with you about something." His tone was slightly hesitant as he linked his hands together and leaned slightly.

He paused for a moment before continuing. "Well...you know about my trip to Canada?" Jade raised an eyebrow before she nodded. "Yes, you told me about that a while ago."

"Ok, um...well, I'm going to Canada to visit my relatives. Don't worry, it won't take long than a few days...and uh-" He trailed off as he sighed. Turning to Jade, Beck looked at her with a thoughtful face.

"Jade, do you like Robbie?"

To say Jade was completely and utterly caught off-guard by this unexpected question was a _vast_ understatement of the _century_.

Her eyes widened as her throat felt like it was constricting. Her heart was beating in her chest in panic as she sputtered, opening and closing her mouth to try to say something.

"W-wh-hat?" She managed to get out, not over the shock.

Beck sighed as he looked around the RV for a few seconds before turning around to look at Jade.

"Do you like Robbie, Jade?" He asked again.

Jade blinked, unable to say anything, as she felt her heart beat. Beck nodded once. It was as if Jade's reaction confirmed it for him.

"Jade...I know about this, your attraction to Robbie." He began. "I see the way you look at him, the way you talk to him...the way you act around him...around Robbie. It was the same you did when we began dating."

"I-I-" Jade opened her mouth to bring up a weak denial.

"If you like Robbie, Jade...just say it. You don't have to hide it. I would understand that...because...because...well, I have been feeling that this relationship hadn't been going anywhere since we got back together."

"Y-you did?" Jade inquired quietly, finding herself able to speak.

Beck nodded.

"This is going to sound clichéd, but...it's not you, it's me. It's just that my feelings toward you have...changed, and that this relationship had been dragging on for some time now. And you know it."

Jade remained silent. Beck was right, both that she liked Robbie and that the relationship had been going nowhere.

She sighed as she braced herself for what she was going to say. They were rapidly approaching the point of no return, and she knew it. As soon she opened her mouth, the words simply..._spilled out_. She confessed everything to Beck, about her crush on Robbie Shapiro, about her feelings...all that.

Beck remained silent throughout all that. By the time Jade finished, she had tears running down her face. Beck pulled her into a hug.

"There, there, don't cry-" Beck tried to soothe her, patting her on the back. When he pulled back, Jade was wiping her eyes. He gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'm not mad. If anything, I understand how you feel, because..."

He went on to confess about his growing attraction to a Cat Valentine. When he'd finished, Jade was staring at him. She certainly didn't expect that. Cat? Tori, she could understand, but Cat? That was surprising. But then, her attraction to Robbie was surprising too.

Time seemed to slow down as Jade looked at Beck, and he back, unsure of what to do next. If his expression told him, it seems that Beck was equally as unsure.

In short, it felt awkward.

"So..." He began as he looked at Jade. "I think we should-"

"Break up." Jade finished for him. Beck remained silent for a few seconds before he nodded.

The silence that followed spoke volumes for both Jade and Beck.

Jade nodded.

At that moment, Jade felt a mix of emotions course through her, of which they felt conflicting. On one side, she felt...relieved, now that she wasn't in a relationship anymore and could now pursue anyone, including the object of her affections. On the other hand, she still felt a pang of hurt. She had been with Beck for so long, that it now felt weird to not be with him anymore.

Breakups, even mutual, weren't easy. This was certainly the _hardest_ Jade has had to do, but it was done.

"Friends?" Beck's hopeful voice broke the silence, a small smile on his face. Jade looked at him for a moment before she mustered a small smile and nodded.

"Friends." She confirmed.

She and Beck were still friends, yes, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to feel awkward around Beck. This would fade over time, but..._still_.

But one thing for sure, Jade West and Beck Oliver was no longer dating.

* * *

><p>Robbie was turning over in his bed, trying to sleep. For some reason, he felt restless, like he couldn't sleep. Rex was grumbling besides him.<p>

He sighed as he shut his eyes and tried to let sleep overtake him. However, he felt awake. "Oh, who am I kidding? I can't go to sleep." He muttered to himself as he sat up on his bed.

"Tell me about it." Rex's voice grumbled. "Now shut up and let me sleep!" Robbie rolled his eyes as he left his room and walked downstairs to the darkened kitchen, clutching an empty glass of water.

When Robbie came back to his room, he nearly dropped his glass in shock.

Jade West was in his room.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So concludes Chapter 10! Phew, that was officially the longest chapter I have had to write for a story, lol. I'm not sure if I did this 'mutual break up' thingy right, because I had never experienced that...so do pardon me if I did it wrong or something :x Anyways, hope you like.**

**So...Beck and Jade has broken up. Jade's in Robbie's room in the middle of the night. You wanna know what happens next? Huh? Huh? Well, you know what to do.**

**Clicky on that pretty review button! :3**


	11. Do you want to go to the dance with me?

**A/N: Hey reviewers, Chapter Eleven is here! For this chapter, I'd thought I would touch on the Tandre pairing a bit (and the implied Rori), as in exploring Andre's strange behavior as shown in the last chapter - and seeing Rade through in Andre's POV, or something like that.**

**Oh, and it will focus on Bat a bit too.**

**Sorry if it seems to deviate from the Rade a bit. I hope you like this chapter.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Eleven: Do you want to go to the dance with me?<strong>_

"J-Jade?" Robbie stuttered, his heart still pounding painfully in his chest. In his darkened room, and despite his current lack of glasses, he still could see Jade fairly clearly.

He could see her nod as she was sitting on his bed. The window was open. She had clearly snuck in through that.

Flipping the light switch, and ignoring Rex's protests, Robbie walked over to his desk, picked up his glasses and put it on before turning to Jade.

Almost immediately, Robbie could tell that something was..._off_, if Jade's expression told him anything. She looked a bit _distressed_...like she had been crying or something.

"Jade, are you ok?" He asked concerned as he moved to sit next to Jade on the bed. He mentally slapped himself. That was a stupid question, Jade wasn't ok. She scooted closer to him.

Jade smiled a little as she nodded. "Yeah, I'm ok. Well, for the most part." She said as she looked over at Robbie.

Nodding, Robbie placed an arm over Jade's shoulder in a comforting hug, of which she snuggled into him.

"Wanna talk about it?" Robbie inquired. Jade remained silent for a moment.

"Beck and I broke up."

Robbie blinked in surprise. That was certainly...an _unexpected_ revelation. He wasn't sure of how he felt about that. On one hand, he felt like he wanted to comfort Jade because, well, she had been dating Beck for a long time (two years was a pretty long time). In the other hand, he felt like he wanted to celebrate because Jade, the girl he was secretly crushing on, was now single.

_Single_.

Mentally shaking off such feelings, Robbie opened his mouth to speak.

"I'm sorry about that." He wanted to slap himself for saying something so..._lame_, but he didn't know what to say. He had never comforted a girl who had gone through a breakup before.

Jade smiled a little as she shrugged. "Don't be. It was mutual."

Robbie raised an eyebrow. "Mutual?" Jade nodded. "Beck suggested it first-well, he began, but I finished that. We agreed to remain friends." She said as she looked at Robbie.

Silence filled the air for a moment as Robbie tried to think of something to comfort Jade, to make her feel better and all that, but he couldn't think of any. Why was he such an inept person? Finally, Robbie settled on something.

"Want some water?" He asked as he offered the glass. Jade looked at the glass and gave a small smile.

"Sure." She said as she took the glass from him. She felt a spark as her fingers brushed against his when she took the glass. She raised the glass to her lips and tilted it up, feeling the cool and refreshing water course down her throat.

As she lowered the glass, Jade looked at Robbie, feeling grateful and thankful. 'He's so sweet', she sighed in her mind. "Thanks, Robbie." She smiled as she looked into his eyes.

"You're welcome, Jade."

Then before she knew it, Jade was slowly leaning toward him. Robbie noticed this, and his heart began to pound in his chest as he knew what would happen next. He felt himself lean in too, as if an unseen force was pulling him forward. They felt their eyes close as they leaned closer, feeling their breath mingle.

_They were going to...to-_

"Hey lovebirds! Take it somewhere!"

...and the moment was shattered, _ruined_. No thanks to Rex, the dummy that was Robbie's best friend.

Robbie and Jade, upon realizing it, abruptly pulled their faces back, blushing heavily.

They had been so close...their lips were _centimeters apart_...

For the both of them, this was the second time they had tried to kiss, and the second time they were interrupted.

"Go back to sleep, Rex." Robbie said, feeling annoyance course through his veins.

"With the lights on, and that witch here on your bed, yeah I'm gonna go back to sleep!"

Seeing Jade glare at Rex, and knowing what she could potentially do to the poor dummy, Robbie yanked Rex up from the bed and, ignoring Rex's protests, threw him into the closet (but not before tossing a pillow there) and slammed the door shut.

Turning around, Robbie and Jade locked eyes with each other for what seemed like an eternity before they broke into laughter. The tension and awkwardness that had permeated the air a moment before seemed to vanish as Robbie went back to Jade's side, and she turned her body toward him.

Jade had never looked so _beautiful_ as she did right now, Robbie thought to himself as he looked at his friend and secret crush.

And she was now single. _Single_.

That was embedded in Robbie's mind as he and Jade began to talk about...well, stuff. They talked about Sikowitz's class, the teacher's crazy antics, about Tori, their goals, well, everything. Several hours passed by, though in such a blur that both Robbie and Jade barely registered that it was now really late into the night (or early morning).

Both of them were chuckling about Sikowitz's 'freaky' antics in class earlier that day, when a thought appeared in Robbie's head. Glancing at Jade, who was lying on her side facing him, Robbie took a breath.

Jade seemed to think the same, as she now had a pensive expression on her face.

"Um.." Robbie opened his mouth to ask the question that had been on his mind for some time.

"Uh, I-" Jade said at the same time.

"um...you go first." Robbie grinned as he poked Jade in her stomach, which elicited a small yelp.

"No, you go first." Jade poked him back, smirking.

"Ladies first." Poke.

Jade giggled for a bit before her face became serious. Looking into Robbie's eyes, Jade took a breath as she mentally prepared herself for what she was about to do next.

"Robbie, do you want to go to the dance with me?"

* * *

><p>Andre Harris sighed as he walked through one of the hallways of Hollywood Arts, his hands inside his pockets.<p>

Here he was, thinking of her..._again_. In actuality, she was constantly on his mind, every moment of the day, and had been since he had first met her. Since he had first set his eyes on her.

In short, Andre Harris was falling for Tori Vega. _Hard_.

Tori Vega, his best friend.

I mean, how could he not? Tori Vega was simply..._perfect_. Her brown hair accented her face perfectly, so much that he wanted to drive his hands through them (and her doing the same to his dreadlocks). She had a simply amazing smile who could lighten up the world a thousand (no, wait-a million) times over, and melt even of the most hardened criminals in the world (not that he wanted her to meet them, mind you).

Yes, he was exaggerating-no, wait, he actually wasn't.

In addition, her cheekbones were perfectly positioned on her amazing face. And her lips...oh these lips that Andre simply longed to taste, these lips that constantly tormented him whenever he talked with her.

And it didn't help that she had such a...a..._sweet, caring, and considerable_ personality. She was always so...so _nice_ toward everybody at Hollywood Arts (even Jade for the most part), and she was very smart too, dedicated to her studies.

In short, Tori Vega was the girl of his dreams, everything he had looked for in a girl.

Unfortunately, she seemed to be interested in...someone else. Andre frowned as he recalled the events in Sikowitz's class the week before, when Tori had 'fought' with Jade over Robbie, when she was...kissed him, actually kissed him.

He remembered feeling...utterly crushed. But he kept his feelings and emotions in check.

Although Tori didn't talk too much about Robbie, Andre noticed that she seemed to be interested in him.

And this caused a spark of jealousy go through him.

He didn't really like it.

* * *

><p><em><strong>FLASHBACK<strong>_

"Hey Tori." Andre greeted as he saw Tori at her locker.

"Hey Andre! What's up?" Tori said as she flashed that smile that made Andre go slightly weak in the knees.

"Not much, Tori." Andre shrugged. "Just managed to finish homework for Gradstein this morning."

"Gosh, you actually managed to finish that homework?" Tori gasped. "I couldn't finish it at all, it's too difficult! I wish the teacher hadn't required us to work individually."

Andre chuckled. "Yea, I feel ya. But you're a smart lady, I know you can do it."

Tori giggled. "Why, thank you, Sir Harris. That means so much to me." She mock bowed. Andre laughed. "You are welcome, madame Vega." He did the same, with a slightly more dramatic bow.

Andre loved the sound of Tori's laugh. It was easily one of the most wonderful sounds that he had heard in his entire life. It was hard to describe it exactly, but it sounded..._angelic_.

"Hey man, hey babe." A voice wafted out. Andre blinked to see Robbie and Rex walk up the hallway.

"Rex, show Tori some respect." Robbie scolded the puppet before turning to Tori and Andre. "I'm sorry for Rex's actions."

"And I'm sorry for Robbie's actions too." Rex retorted. Robbie rolled his eyes.

"It's all right." Tori laughed as she put a hand on Robbie's shoulder. "So...you going to the Danceathon?" She asked.

Robbie thought about it a bit. "Well...I think I might go." He said a bit hesitant.

Andre noticed that Tori seemed to perk up. "Really?" She grinned. "So...anyone ask you yet?"

"No, not yet."

"I'm not surprised." Rex piped up.

"Well...um, I was just wondering if..." Tori began, and Andre got this..._sinking_ feeling in his stomach as he looked between his friends. _'Oh no...it can't be...'_

"You'll never believe what happened to me yesterday!" Cat exclaimed as she ran up to them, her magenta hair flying after her. Tori and Robbie looked at her a bit strangely, although Andre exhaled a sigh of relief, mentally thanking Cat for this timely interruption.

"I went to that fancy dress shop yesterday with my brother, you know that big store with all the pretty pink dresses-ohh how pink they were! Anyways, we were driving to the place, and my brother went the wrong way! Can you believe that we got lost? We-"

'Thank God for Cat.' Andre thought to himself, chuckling slightly as Cat babbled on.

"I'm getting bored of this. Robbie, take me to our locker." Rex commanded. Robbie sighed. He waved his hand as he turned around and walked away to his locker. Tori looked like she wanted to say something, but she promptly closed her mouth and pouted a bit as she listened to Cat's ramblings.

Andre couldn't help but notice.

_**FLASHBACK END**_

* * *

><p>As he blinked back to reality, Andre wondered if Tori had feelings for Robbie, or something like that, given her behavior around him - and he fervently hoped that was not the case.<p>

Sighing, Andre reached his locker, and opened it. As he grabbed some books, he glanced to his right. And saw Robbie and Jade walking side by side through the hallway.

Now, Tori wasn't the only one that Andre noticed; over the past week, he had indeed begun to notice that Robbie and Jade were steadily growing close. He saw that Robbie and Jade had taken to sitting next to each other (or pretty close) in class and at lunch - something that didn't happen too often in the past. He saw the smiles and looks Robbie and Jade shared, and wondered how he didn't notice that before. As days passed, and as such sighs became more apparent, Andre's curiosity - and suspicions - were increasingly piped and vindicated.

On top of that, Andre had indeed noticed that Beck and Jade didn't spend as much time together as they used to be. Whereas Beck and Jade were practically joined at the hips, Robbie steadily took Beck's place - and Beck didn't seem to notice (if he did, he didn't give any indication). It seemed as if Jade and Beck were..._drifting apart_.

Andre's eyes narrowed in thought as he surveyed his two friends.

Did Jade and Robbie like each other?

That was what Andre wondered from time to time, it surely seemed like that way. He would have to talk with Beck about what was going on, though.

With this in mind, he shut his locker and went to look for his friend.

* * *

><p>Beck Oliver was at his locker, putting some things there. He was thinking about the events of last night, when he and Jade...<em>broke up<em>.

If there was anything Beck had to admit, it was that he felt..._freer_ than any time before in his life before he first asked Jade out two years before. However, at the same time, Beck had to admit that he sort of...missed having Jade at his side. In a way, this was like a withdrawal, this feeling of discomfort (or was it awkwardness?) and even disorientation that ensued when you weren't dating someone, especially that someone you used to date for two years, anymore.

This was illustrated when he had passed by Jade earlier that morning. As he saw her, he felt sorta awkward around her, his ex-girlfriend who he would now have to treat like a friend. They exchanged greetings and waves, but that was it.

But other than that, Beck felt fine.

"Hey man!"

Beck turned to see Andre walk over to him. Smiling, Beck gave Andre a manly handshake. "What's up, man?"

"Nothing much...although I have to say that I've noticed something that I think you should know about."

Beck raised his eyebrows, vaguely getting a feeling that he knew what it would be about.

"It's about Robbie and Jade."

He was right.

"...and?" Beck inquired, smiling slightly.

"Have you noticed that they seem to be getting...closer?

Beck nodded. "I noticed."

"Yeah, espec-wait. You noticed?" Andre looked surprised.

Beck shrugged as he closed his locker and leaned against it. "Yes, I did. Jade and I broke up."

Andre all but gaped as he took in this surprising revelation. "...whoa, I didn't expect that. Wow...again? Um, I mean, uh-" Andre looked like he was trying to find the right words.

Beck chuckled as he clapped his friend on the shoulder. "It was mutual. The relationship had been going nowhere for some time since we had gotten back together, so we decided to end it. We're still friends, though."

Andre nodded slowly. "That's...quite a revelation. But good to know you two are still friends-"

"You and Jade broke up?" A certain voice interrupted.

Beck and Andre turned to see Cat Valentine a short distance away - and Beck swore his heart had stopped beating right there and then. Cat was walking toward them, having evidently heard the last part of the conversation judging by her concerned expression on her face. It took most of Beck's willpower not to stare at Cat. She was wearing a bright yellow sundress that hugged her curvy figure perfectly. She looked so..._gorgeous_.

Beck nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders, when in fact he was fainting on the inside, as he replied, "Yeah, we broke up. We hadn't been feeling anything, so we decided to remain friends."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that!" Cat ran into Beck's arms and hugged him tightly.

Beck swore he had just died and gone to Heaven, because a beautiful redheaded angel was hugging him closely. His senses were assailed by that..._delectable_ strawberry scent that constantly haunted his mind and aroused in him an urge that he increasingly found it hard to resist. And it didn't help the fact that he was now single.

_Single_.

Meaning he wasn't exclusive to Jade West anymore. This meant that if he wanted to, he could turn her face upward and smash his lips against her pouty lips (in his mind, he wondered if she tasted like strawberries...).

But as much he wanted to, he had to reluctantly remove his arms, which seemingly had wrapped around her petite waist on their own accord, and step back. He was aware of Andre's presence nearby, watching them.

As he looked at Cat's saddened expression on her face, Beck felt a strong urge to reassure her, to comfort her and hold her in his arms. But he held his emotions in check, instead deciding to thank Cat for the hug. "Yeah, it sucks", he said, not really meaning it. "But I can get over that. At least I kept a friend out of all this." He said as he looked at Cat and Andre.

Cat seemed to accept it as she nodded. Andre raised an eyebrow as the mechanisms inside his head began whirring into motion, piecing together the pieces together.

"Yeah, that's true, man." Andre stated as he clapped Beck on the back.

**BRRRRING!**

"Well, time for class." Beck watched Andre walk away before he turned to Cat, who was biting her lips slightly as she looked at him with an...uncertain expression on her face. The thought that had passed through his mind for the millionth time surfaced once again: 'She looks so beautiful...'

"Um..." Beck was intrigued as Cat fidgeted with her hands a bit as she seemed to struggle to say something.

Finally, after a while, she opened her mouth.

"Beck...would you be..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, here it is. Here's Chapter 11.**

**As I stated earlier, this chapter deviates from Rade a bit, but the next chapter will focus more on Robbie and Jade (especially how Robbie reacts to Jade's 'proposal'), although it will include Bat and Tandre.**

**For some reason, I don't feel fully satisfied with this chapter, no matter how many I rewrote and modified it, but eh, I guess it will have to do for now. I think this chapter is more like a 'settling down' chapter, or something like that. Once again, I hope you like this chapter.**

**As usual, review! Review! :)**

**Btw, a question for y'all: do you think Tori likes Robbie? Hope Tori isn't too OOC, but eh.**


	12. Does she like me?

**A/N: After a long time, here's the long-awaited Chapter Twelve! Hope you like. lol**

**And I must express my gratitude to all my reviewers for inspiring me to continue this story much longer than I had initially planned it to be. Instead of the 4-5 chapters, or even 8-9 chapters, I think I might go for 14 or 15 chapters, maybe even 20.**

**Once again, thank you guys! You all are awesome. :)**

**BTW, about the first scene with Robbie and Jade...this was inspired by another story written by a _certain_ Rade author. Can you guess where the idea came from? :P**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Twelve: Does she like me?<strong>_

**Ring ring ring ring**

Jade West slowly stirred from her sleep, roused by her phone that she had set to wake her up early in the morning. Feeling tired, and not wanting to go to school, Jade reached over to her phone and turned off the alarm. She then got ready to drag her tired body from bed until something stopped her.

An arm was wrapped around her waist.

That was when she realized something: she was in Robbie's room, on his bed, in his house.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw that it was Robbie holding her from behind. She smiled at the peaceful expression on her Robbie's face, but then she blushed as she realized of their..._intimate_ position in the bed and as the memories of last night (or several hours before) flooded back into her mind.

* * *

><p><em><strong>FLASHBACK<strong>_

"Robbie, do you want to go to the dance with me?"

The moments that followed were easily the longest, and most nerve-wracking, in Jade's life. Time seemed to stand still as Robbie remained silent, with a slightly surprised expression on his face.

What if he rejected her (technically, he couldn't because of the Sadie Hawkins nature of the dance)? Laugh in her face? Although she knew he wouldn't do that, it nevertheless worried her.

She was fervently praying and hoping Robbie would go with her to the dance. It may have seemed a bit too soon, given that she had broken up with Beck not too long ago, but this had been on her mind for some time now, and it wouldn't stop bugging her until she had popped the question.

"Yes, I would be honored to go to the dance with you, Jade."

Jade blinked, feeling...happiness swell inside her, feeling her lips slowly curl up in a smile.

_Did he...he said..._

Without really thinking, Jade lurched forward, pressing her lips against his, feeling a spark. She had to admit to herself that she was as shocked as much as he probably was because of her impulsive action.

She was about to pull back and apologize when she felt him respond. He was kissing, actually kissing, her back, placing his hand on her cheek.

The kiss continued for a moment, indeed becoming more _passionate_, before Jade reluctantly broke it off.

"I-I'm sorry about that, I s-shouldn't have done that." She stammered as she looked at him, her lips tingling.

"It's all right, Jade." Robbie said after a moment, smiling though he seemed to have questions in his eyes. "It's not every day I get a kiss from a beautiful girl."

Jade felt her cheeks begin to inflame at this compliment from the object of her affections.

"Surely you don't mean that?" She tried to sound indignant, but she ended up giggling, Robbie chuckling along with her.

"Oh but I do."

A comfortable silence ensued as Jade and Robbie looked at each other.

Robbie seemed to realize something. "It's really late, and it's a school night." He said as he glanced at the clock, which read 3:10am. "I can drop you off at your house."

"Um..." Jade began as she got a thought. "You don't have to...I mean, I can sleep with you if you want." Immediately after these words left her mouth, Jade wanted to take them back, blushing heavily at the _implication_.

Robbie looked speechless.

"No..no...what I-I meant by s-sleeping with you is sleeping over at your house!" Jade stammered out, feeling flustered.

"Y-yeah, I got what you mean." Robbie chuckled a bit. "You sure about this, thought? I mean, won't your parents notice that you're not there?"

Feeling her blush slowly wear off, although her heart still fluttered, Jade shrugged. "They're not going to notice...they won't anyways." She said, trying to disguise the little hurt in her tone. Robbie noticed this, though.

"...allright. Lemme get the sleeping stuff." Robbie said as he got up, deciding not to pry further.

"Sleeping stuff?" Jade inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Robbie nodded. "Blanket, pillows, that stuff. I'm gonna sleep on the floor, you can take the bed."

Jade had sworn that her heart had melted right there and then. Robbie was so..._sweet and considerate_.

"Robbie, I'm not going to make you sleep on the floor in your own room. If anything, I'm gonna go sleep on the floor." Jade said as she stood up. Robbie shook his head.

"What kind of man would I be if I let a lady sleep on the floor?"

A series of..._naughty_ images surfaced in Jade's mind before she mentally shook them off, blushing a bit.

"A righteous one, Robbie." The curly-haired boy raised an eyebrow at her sarcastic reply as he then chuckled.

"Still, I'm not going to make you do that." At that point, Jade got a thought, although this time she mulled over it, trying to figure out how to put it in a way that didn't sound...naughty, or something like that.

"Um..." Jade began, "Maybe, um...we could...share the bed, as in sleep together on your bed. And by this, I mean sleeping side by side!"

Robbie looked at her for a moment before he finally nodded.

"Seems like a...good idea." He then seemed to have a thought before he continued, adopting a smirk on his face that sent chills up Jade's spine (in a good way).

"You know Jade, I never knew you had it in you, wanting to sleep with me badly." He teased in a..._sultry_ tone that made Jade feel something in someplace that she shouldn't be feeling.

Jade had never felt so..._flustered_ before in her life. All of the blood in her body seemed to rechannel to her face as she gaped at Robbie, opening and closing her mouth but having no words come out.

"..wha..um...o-ohh you! Robbie! I'm gonna get you!" She ran after a laughing Robbie out of his room.

Good thing Robbie's parents were out on a meeting trip half-way across L.A.

_**FLASHBACK END**_

* * *

><p>Jade smiled as she recalled these memories. Glancing down at herself, she noted that she was wearing a black tank top and panties. She also noted how right it felt to be held in his arms...how she felt safe and secure.<p>

'Jade! Get your head together!' She mentally berated herself.

But _still_...

Jade smiled a little as she gingerly picked Robbie's arm off her body and prepared to get up from the bed-but not before Robbie stirred.

"Hu-wha...?" Robbie opened his eyes and rubbed them to get the sleep out of them.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Jade giggled a bit as she looked at her new date for the Danceathon.

She had a date for the Danceathon. Robbie was her date. Now Tori Vega can't get her grubby paws on him, she thought triumphantly.

"What time is it?" Robbie said sleepily as he turned over to see the clock. It said 6:30am. He groaned. "I wish school didn't start so early, I want to sleep more."

Jade smirked as she stood up and stretched a bit. "How do you think I feel?"

Robbie nodded as he looked at Jade, or as she noticed, looked her up and down. She felt herself begin to blush.

"Well, I'm going to get ready. Try not to miss me too much." She teased as she left his room.

Robbie exhaled as he looked at the door that Jade had just walked through, and leaned back on his bed, letting his head plop on his pillow.

Why did he feel like he and Jade was a married couple?

* * *

><p>"You and Jade kissed? And I <em>missed<em> it?" Rex exclaimed for what was probably the billionth time that day.

"_Shh_! Not so _loud_!" Robbie hissed to his best friend, glancing at Jade who was at her locker next to him. She glanced at him and gave a knowing smirk, Robbie blushed a bit and looked back at Rex.

"Still! You two kissed. And I didn't get to see it." Rex whined. "What else secrets are you harboring from me?"

"Rex, we kissed yes, but the entire world doesn't need to know!"

"Are you kidding me? This would make for a good publicity thingy! Think of the headlines: Lonely Nerd Finds Love with a Freaky Girl and Seals it with a Kiss!"

Jade scowled at Rex.

"Rex! Ok, that's it. Back in the locker you go!"

"Wai-" Rex didn't get a chance as Robbie put him in his locker and slammed it shut.

"Cranky, are we?" Jade smirked. Robbie sighed.

"That's what happens when you only have like three hours of sleep." He looked at Jade, who seemed to be wide awake. "How do you do it?"

Jade only held up her traditional coffee. Robbie shook his head as he chuckled.

"Of course."

* * *

><p>"Beck...would you be..."<p>

Cat Valentine felt her stomach doing somersaults, and heart pounding in her chest, as she looked at the handsome, long-haired young man standing in front of her, a curious expression on his face.

Why was this so hard? The Disney movies she had watched made it look so easy!

Like...like...in that movie where the guy dressed in some dress, a cape, and that puffy hat thingy-his name was Alad-Aladin-Aladdio or something like that-asked the beautiful princess out to ride with him on the magic carpet!

Why couldn't she have that kind of confidence?

Oh yeah. Because of Beck Oliver. The guy who had the greatest hair she had ever seen on a male. The guy who was so cool and so handsome. The guy who was her friend, who helped her out when she needed it. The guy who she had a _huge_ crush on.

Yes, Cat has a crush on Beck Oliver, although she wasn't sure how or when it began. But one thing for sure was that it had started out as a feeling of attraction but evolved into a fully-fledged crush over time.

However, Beck had been dating Jade at that time, and as such she kept her feelings well hidden behind her 'ditzy' nature, and acted like her usual self. She, however, could remember the jealousy and longing that went through her every time she saw him with Jade...whenever he was holding hands with her, hanging out with her..._kissing_ her.

In fact, when the Danceathon was first announced, Cat has had wanted to ask Beck out, but he had been taken at that time, so in the days and weeks, she hadn't been able to find a boy who she would like to ask out for the dance (this brought back certain...painful memories). Just when she was about to settle for Andre or Robbie, Beck broke up with Jade.

So, here she was, fidgeting in front of him in the hallway, having a hard time trying to muster up the courage to ask him to the dance with her.

"...would you be...um...would you g-um, nevermind. I gotta go to class, I'm late as it is!"

She tried to skip away, but Beck grabbed her arm and turned her to face him.

"Would I what?" He inquired, an unreadable expression on his face.

Her heart pounding with sheer nervousness, Cat took in a breath as she looked up at his eyes...these eyes that captivated her.

"W-would you go to the dance with me?"

Here it was. Cat bit her lips in nervousness as Beck's unreadable face stared at her for what seemed like..._forever_, but what was actually a moment. What surprised her was that Beck smiled, that...gorgeous grin that always sent her mind reeling whenever it was aimed toward her.

"I'd love to go with you, Cat."

Immediately, Cat felt happiness bubble up in her as she grinned widely, before wrapping him in a crushing hug. She heard Beck chuckle as he wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug.

She looked up at him, he down at her. Their eyes locked, and Cat smiled shyly at him.

Somehow, for some reason, Cat found herself being pulled toward Beck. She felt her eyes close, and lips part, as she slowly leaned toward him...getting closer to him...

_Closer..._

"Hey! What are you two doing? You're late for your classes!"

Cat snapped back to reality as she stepped back from Beck and looked at the source of the interruption.

It was Lane, their guidance counselor. Glancing around, Cat saw that she and Beck were in a nearly-deserted corridor. First period had already begun.

"Eep! I'm so sorry about this, Mr. Lane!" Cat said, looking worried.

"Me too." Beck said simply.

The older man sighed. "Just get to your classes. Try not be late next time, ok?" Beck and Cat nodded as they went to their classes. Cat smiled at her dance date before she got on her tiptoes and pecked Beck on the cheek before skipping to her class, leaving Beck standing there, his hand on his cheek.

As they walked into their respective classes late, both Cat and Beck were thinking about that near-kiss.

* * *

><p>"I <em>still<em> can't believe that Gradstein gave me a F, even when you helped out with the work." Tori groaned as she propped her head on her hand, Andre patting her on the back.

"Happiest day of my life." Jade, who was in Gradstein's class, smirked as she poked at her salad. Tori glared at her.

"Hey all, what's up?" Jade looked up to see Beck take a seat across from Jade, and look around the table, his eyes glancing at her for a second. She immediately got that awkward feeling, but shook it off.

"Tori failed her assignment for Gradstein's class." Andre replied. Beck raised his eyebrows.

"But doesn't Gradstein allow you to redo the assignment if you get a failing grade the first time?" Beck pointed out.

"He does? But I was told he doesn't do that!"

"He does now, but for the first time only. It probably helped that nearly all the students in his class last year complained about him so much." Andre explained.

"On the other hand, Gradstein doesn't really doesn't offer it; it's more like students have to ask him for it. And if you don't go for that...well, one-thirds of your final class grade are deducted in the end, no matter how well you do on your exams and homework." Beck said.

Tori had a disbelieving look on her face. "You didn't tell me that!" She accused as she turned to Jade.

"Whoops, I forgot." Jade said with a smirk, delighting in the scandalized expression on her rival's face. Tori narrowed her eyes.

"Ok, so who wants to talk about the dance?" Andre suggested, rubbing his hands together as he looked around the table. Tori and Beck raised their eyebrows at him, while Jade watched on with her deadpan face.

At that point, Robbie walked up with Rex. Immediately, both Jade and Tori brightened up.

"Hey guys." Robbie greeted. Before he could take his usual seat, Tori grabbed his arm and pulled him down next to her. Jade's eyes darkened in jealousy as she scowled.

She didn't like the way that..._hussy_ was fawning over her Robbie. Little did she know, as well everyone, was that she wasn't the only jealous one. Andre frowned as he looked at Robbie and Tori.

"Whoa, baby. If you wanted me so bad, you should've just said-actually, continue please, but with me instead of him." Rex laughed. Tori shot a look of disgust at the puppet.

"First of all, eww!" Tori said. "Secondly of all, we were talking about the dance." She turned to Robbie with a smile before glancing at everyone. "Hey-where's Cat?"

"She's at the library." Beck surprised everyone. "But she should be here soon."

Tori nodded. "Ok...so, who you going with to the dance?" She turned to Robbie. Jade's jaw tightened as her hand wrapped around her fork.

Robbie chuckled a bit nervously as he saw Tori and Jade look at him, the former with interest and the latter with jealousy. He was about to reply when Rex did it for him.

"Oh, he's going with Jade to the dance. She asked him out." The dummy chirped. "Oh, and they made out after that too."

"_REX_!" Robbie cried out, horrified. Jade's eyes widened and Tori's jaw dropped. Beck's eyebrows were raised.

"Yeah, and it was in his roo-" Robbie covered Rex's mouth.

Tori seemed to sputter a bit as she looked between Robbie and Jade. "You-she, she asked you to the dance? And made out with-you made out with Robbie, Jade? But you're dating Be-"

"Actually, we broke up." Beck interjected as he raised a hand a little in the air.

Tori looked surprised. "R-really? Wow...that's surprising."

"Yeah, it was." Andre spoke up. Tori turned to him. "You _knew_ about this?"

Andre put his hands in front of him. "He told me that this morning." Beck nodded in confirmation.

Before Tori could say anything, Cat appeared at the table. "Hi everyone! You'll never believe this! I was at the library, and I saw this really cute book-it had the word 'Cat' on it! Can you believ-" It became apparent that Beck was the only one who was actually listening to the oblivious Cat.

And Robbie would've done the same, if anything to get away from the rivalry that seemed to rage between Jade and Tori, were he not hounded with questions by Tori.

"Face it, Vega. I asked Robbie out, so you have to suck it up." Jade sneered, glancing at Robbie (and giving him a small smile). "Hey, Rex's available." She said as she pointed at the dummy.

Sensing an impeding argument, but knowing that anything he said might exacerbate it and not wanting to get involved, Andre opened his mouth, "Hey, I'm going to the Grub Truck. Who wants some burritos? Tamales? Pizza?" Andre looked at Tori, Jade, and Robbie. "Ok, burritos it is then!" He walked away without waiting for an answer.

"Um...wait for me!" Robbie called after Andre as he tried to get up, only to be grabbed and yanked back on his seat by both Tori and Jade as they glared at each other.

"Oho. You have two girls fighting over you. That's a first." Rex cracked, only to shut up when the girls in question gave him death glares. Robbie gulped.

Beck gave Robbie a sympathetic look.

* * *

><p>"Man, today was a great day, don't you think Rob?" Rex was laughing.<p>

Robbie sighed and shook his head, not feeling like arguing or reprimanding his best friend.

Placing the puppet on one side of the bed, Robbie plopped face down on his bed. Immediately, he could smell...her.

Jade's scent, from where she had slept over on his bed the night before. It was one of many aspects of Jade that Robbie adored, if not loved. It was...simply _intoxicating_, eliciting a certain urge from deep within him. He wondered how he had restrained himself to such an extent that he did last night.

As Robbie got to thinking, he did have to admit that Rex had a point there, that it was a pretty great day, as in spending time with Jade and his friends. That is, until lunch. From the moment he had walked over to the table, he had been dragged - _literally_ - into Tori and Jade's rivalry, this time about him.

Oh why? Why did Rex have to blurt out that Jade had asked him out, much less that she had kissed him?

Not that he wanted to sneak around, keeping this a secret, of course. It's just that...well, Beck and Jade had so recently broke up, and well...he was concerned that his friends would think that something was up, that they would think of it as too weird.

As Robbie's thoughts shifted from the situation in the cafeteria (most especially in Sikowitz's class afterwards) to Jade and Tori themselves. Getting up from his bed, Robbie walked over to his desk and pulled out one of its drawers. Pulling a folded paper, Robbie unfolded it and sat down on his bed.

The title, 'Signs a Girl Likes You', greeted him, tauntingly reminding Robbie that it was the origin of all this...that it was partly responsible for the changes in feelings toward Trina, Cat, and Jade and especially the..._drama_ that ensued.

Scanning over the signs, Robbie was certain that Jade liked, liked, him. She fulfilled many, if not, of the signs outlined in the paper. Not only did she stare at him a few times, but she flirted with him, she asked about other girls (especially of why he liked Trina and Cat), and seemed to act jealous whenever other girls were around him. She broke up with Beck and asked him, out of all the prospective males that inhabited Hollywood Arts, to the Danceathon. Most of all, she had kissed him. Kissed him.

Robbie mused that he could still..._taste_ her on his lips. It was...the most amazing kiss that he had ever experienced in his life.

And he was as equally certain that he liked Jade as much, if not more, as she did him.

However, what about Tori?

Robbie's thoughts turned to Tori Vega. She was certainly a very beautiful young woman, even (as he had admitted to himself) more beautiful than Trina-both in looks and personality. With her flowing brown hair, sparkling eyes, an amazing smile, and perfect figure, coupled with a great personality, Tori certainly turned heads in Hollywood Arts. Many boys, most especially Andre, fell in love with her.

Heck, Robbie had to admit that he, too, had been smitten with Tori, even going as far as to observe her from the bush on the back porch of her house (he even blurted out one time to her that she had never seen him doing that) and dressing up like Ryder Daniels to try to impress her. He had even felt angry and jealous because the Ryder jerk asked her out. All that stuff, one of his usual crazy antics that Robbie usually did whenever he fell in love with a girl that he thought was attracted to him.

He got over his 'crush' on her, mainly because he had been interested in Trina and Cat, and later on Jade, and because she exhibited little to no interest in him. So, what brought about this change in Tori's behavior toward him?

As Robbie stared at the paper, the words seemed to dance off the page and scramble together as to create 'flashbacks' compiling the signs indicating Tori's possible attraction to him.

He didn't remember exactly how or when it started, but Robbie was certain that it had been there while he was pursuing Cat and Trina. Although he had been fairly oblivious about the signs of a girl's attraction before he had read that paper, Robbie did remember catching Tori looking at him at least a couple of times. She had immediately looked away, and he didn't dwell on it, being too much smitten with Trina and Cat at that time.

In addition to that, Robbie had noticed that Tori seemed to smile a bit more wider and more often than usual whenever he saw her. Once again, he didn't pay attention to it (even if he did, he would probably have dismissed it as her attraction to Andre and Beck, whose she was often around).

Now there was that fateful day the week before, where Tori had 'fought' with Jade over his imaginary character-perhaps a tad too realistic. The intensity of her words and actions, as well the kiss she had gave him, had certainly surprised Robbie. And so did the way she had seemed a bit too concerned about him in the ABC improv scene. And not to mention, she had chased after Trina after she had dumped her lunch on him and stormed off.

Then he remembered that, a few days ago, when Tori had inquired about if he was going to the Danceathon, she had looked...excited. And she was curious about if anyone had asked him out yet. And today...Tori had made him sit next to him, inquired about who he was going to the dance with, and even seemed mad (or jealous?) when Rex revealed that Jade had already asked him to the dance.

Why? Why did she get mad or something? Did she..._like_ him or what?

'Does she like me?' Robbie wondered as he thought about the feud between Tori and Jade that ensued after lunch, of which was very apparent as the two girls had sandwiched themselves over him (in other words, sat on either side of him), glaring at the each other the whole time. They were like...cats with their claws fully bared, ready to stake a claim over him.

He shook his head to clear his mind.

Thank God Sikowitz didn't arrange any class plays or anything like that in class today. Who knows what would have happened if Tori and Jade had been picked to star in a play? He shuddered at the thought.

As he plopped over on his bed once again, and smelt Jade's scent, Robbie hoped the week would go as smoothly as possible.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Do pardon me if there aren't as much Tandre in this chapter as there should be, but this chapter explores further on the implied Rori. I think I might write a bit more about the drama between Jade and Tori over Robbie, as ZenNoMai had suggested in his review. So I must thank you, Zen, for giving this idea of to expand the story further.**

**And 53 reviews? Wow, I feel honored. :)**

**As always, hope you like this chapter and review!**

**This is GallaudetLurker, loyal member of R.A.B.B.I., signing out!**


	13. Ice Cream for Kesha

**A/N: Hi guys and gals, here's Chapter 13.**

**I have to say something, though. I got something of a writer's block, so it took a while to slug through this chapter. This takes place in the episode, "Ice Cream for Ke$ha", albeit with some differences. Hope you like.**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Thirteen: Ice Cream for Ke$ha<strong>_

The week was not going as smooth as possible. In fact, it was anything but smooth.

If anything else, it had gotten..._crazier_ over the course of the week. The rivalry between Jade and Tori had gotten pretty intense to such an extent that you could actually cut the tension between the two competitive girls with a knife. Robbie vividly remembered that, a few days before...

* * *

><p><em><strong>FLASHBACK<strong>_

"I still can't believe you asked him out to the dance!"

Jade glared at Tori, who was glowering at her. "Actually, I can believe that, because it happened, Vega. Get over it and find yourself a date."

Robbie, Andre, Beck, and Cat were silent at the lunch table as they watched the argument rage, not wanting to say something and incur the girls' wrath.

"No, I'm not going to 'get over it', as you so gingerly put it." Tori put air quotes around the words 'get over it'. "It happened out of the blue! If I remember correctly, you were never interested in Robbie before, so what's up with this turnaround? If this is one of your games, then-"

"Game?" Jade spat with such venom that surprised Tori and the others. "You think this is a game? Look there Vega, I asked Robbie out because I wanted to-"

Yeah, these went one such argument. And the scary thing about it was, that, it was becoming a routine.

"Oh boy." Robbie sighed.

"Took the words out of my mouth." Beck muttered as he watched his friend and ex-girlfriend spew words against the each other.

"Wonder how long it will take?" Andre commented dryly, his chin on his hand.

"I hope they don't hurt each other." Cat said worriedly. Andre raised an eyebrow at her.

"Little Red, at the rate they," He gestured at the still-sparring girls, "are going, they're bound to hurt each other before too long."

"What's supposed to mean!" Cat yelled. Robbie raised his eyebrows. Beck put a hand on Cat's shoulder.

"What Andre meant to say is that Jade and Tori won't hurt each other." He turned to Andre. "Right?" Cat still looked a bit upset. Sighing, Beck reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out some candy. "Here's you go." He said as he handed it to Cat, who instantly brightened as she took it.

"Thank you! Thank you!" she said happily. Beck chuckled as Andre and Robbie rolled their eyes.

"So what's next? You're gonna spring Robbie along or what?" Tori exclaimed. "Break his heart?" Robbie turned his attention to the girls.

"So speaks the girl who loves to shake her assets all over school!" Jade spat back. "And for your information, I happen to treat my dates right-"

"You? Ha! If giving a can of lemonade to Beck for his birthday isn't the right way to treat your dates, then I don't know what it is!" Jade scowled.

"You listen here, you-"

"Yup, this is gonna take long." Andre sighed as he lowered his face into his arms on the table.

_**FLASHBACK END**_

* * *

><p>Indeed, Robbie had been almost afraid to approach the usual table, being tempted to sit with Sinjin and his friends at a different table (which he had actually done once, which didn't work out well since Jade and Tori could seemingly hone on to him no matter where he was).<p>

He, however, remembered feeling sort of jealous when Sinjin, having an obvious crush on Jade, tried to flirt with her-and was immediately shot down, much to Robbie's gratification.

The increased tension between Jade and Tori wasn't what caught his attention. It was...the way they increasingly and gradually dressed up in what was apparently an attempt to catch his attention.

That didn't change overnight, of course. But he noticed the outfits becoming more..._tighter and shorter_ every passing day. He gulped as memories of both girls wearing clothing (like tank tops, shorts, or crop tops) that stretched the school's dress code to near the breaking point. He remembered that, on more than one occasion, seeing the...girls in such _provocative_ clothing had aroused a reaction from within him, especially in an area where he shouldn't be feeling in.

And not to mention, the way they...behaved toward him... He remembered almost..._salivating_ at such _egregious_ display of legs and cleava-

No, he shouldn't think of that, not right now. Robbie shook his head to clear his mind.

So...here he was, sitting at the table with Andre, Beck, and Cat. For some reason, Cat was a little miffed with him and refused to talk with him, claiming that Robbie let her get eaten by children in her dream. A confused Robbie had tried to convince her that it was all a dream, but it was to no avail, so Beck was picking up the task.

Tori and Jade were nowhere to be seen, though. Which was somewhat a relief given that the two girls had been practically at each other's throats for the past several days.

It would be a fleeting relief, Robbie knew as he looked at, for the umpteenth time, the texts on his PearPhone Jade and Tori had sent him earlier:

**To: Robbie**

**From: Jade**

**Msg: hey Robbie :) just wanted 2 say i will be a bit late for lunch. see u soon**

**To: Robbie**

**From: Tori**

**Msg: can't wait to see you at lunch :)**

They had been texting him quite a bit recently.

Robbie sighed. Still...he could hope.

"You ok, man?" Beck asked after he had apparently calmed Cat down a little.

"Yeah, just have a lot on my mind lately."

Beck seemed to understand as he looked at Robbie with a knowing face. He had indeed noticed the drama between Jade and Tori, and so had Andre. Beck clapped Robbie on the back. "I feel your pain."

"Ready for the fun, Rob?" Rex piped up. Robbie raised an eyebrow. "Um...why?"

"Because here they come now."

Robbie groaned.

True, Jade and Tori came out of nowhere. Jade got to the table first, though, plopping next to Robbie with a triumphant smirk as Tori scowled before moving to sit next to Andre.

Everyone around the table greeted them, Andre and Beck with a "Hi girls", Cat with a bright "Hi!" and a wave, and Rex with a cocky "Hey babes." Robbie for his part simply smiled as he greeted them.

He felt sorta..._relieved_ that Jade and Tori didn't feud immediately, although he had this feeling that it would happen anyways.

As Andre began to talk about a contest involving ice cream and a special concert with singer Ke$ha, Robbie jolted a bit as he felt a hand slip into his. Glancing to his side, he saw Jade smile as she gave his hand a squeeze, and felt himself begin to blush.

It felt...nice.

"I sure could use some private concert with Ke$ha." Rex said out of nowhere when Andre had explained that anyone who found all five letters of the famous singer's name would receive a private concert by Ke$ha herself. A weirded-out Tori was about to say something when Trina ran up to the table, waving some paper and exclaiming about something that she had found in the attic, or something like that.

As Robbie looked at Trina, he felt..._nothing_ toward her. He didn't feel his heart beat or butterflies flutter, or anything like that. It seems that he had indeed got over his crush on her.

When he turned his attention to Tori, she was reading the paper aloud, which turned out to be a letter that Tori had wrote when she was six years old, stating that if she didn't marry a prince and live in a sugar castle by the time she reached the age of sixteen, she would have to be Trina's assistant for a month.

"Assistant? Sounds like your type of job, oh I'm so excited for you." Jade mocked in the mocking 1940's voice that she employed to rile Tori up.

It worked like a charm every time.

"For the last time, I do not sound like that!" Came the indignant reply.

When Tori disagreed that she was obligated to follow her letter, claiming that it was some silly letter that she had wrote when she was a child, when she believed in fairy tales, she turned to everyone at the table to back her up, especially at Robbie.

"Actually, you made a commitment, you have to follow it. A commitment is a commitment." Beck pointed out, Andre nodding in agreement. Jade's smirk widened.

Seeing the downtrodden expression on Tori's face, while Trina jumped in excitement, Robbie couldn't help but feel bad for Tori, knowing that her sister could get annoying at times.

He sighed.

* * *

><p>Andre found himself sitting across Tori in her house. Trina, her oh-so-annoying sister, was lying in the living room couch nearby, obviously enjoying the deal.<p>

As he watched her fiddle with the plastic toy blaster and eat cookies, Andre thought about his feelings toward his best friend, most especially his growing jealousy and disappointment that had magnified over the past week. The disappointment being that she didn't ask him out (oh how he wanted her to...), the jealousy being that she seemed to be attracted to Robbie-and that irked him to no end.

The ice cream he was eating did help to mitigate that feeling a bit. But _still_...

Andre wanted Tori to look at him like she did at Robbie, to ask him questions about the dance, all that kind of stuff. To go with the dance with him. Most of his friends had dates to the dance; Robbie and Jade (even though it seemed Tori was trying to do something about it), and Beck and Cat.

It seemed that he and Tori were the only ones without a date to the Danceathon. And the dance was a week away. Oh well, at least Tori didn't ask one of the many guys that attended Hollywood Arts.

That was precisely why he hated Sadie Hawkins dances. It was such an..._agony_ to wait and hope against hope for the girl that he liked to ask him out. Had it been a regular dance, where the guy would ask a girl out, he would've asked her to go to the dance with him a long time ago.

He sighed a bit sadly to himself as he shoveled ice cream into his mouth.

Why did he have to fall in love with Tori Vega? Why? Why did he have to fall for a girl who looked at him nothing more than a best friend? Why did he have to endure the torture that was unrequited love?

"Look at me."

Andre blinked as Tori's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked over at her.

Only to have something hit his face.

He blinked again as Tori giggled and pumped her fists up in the air. She had shot him with the toy blaster. "Yeah, yeah! 6 for 6!" She giggled.

Andre couldn't resist a grin as he looked at Tori doing a celebratory 'dance' on her chair. She looked so adorable, so beautiful...

However, Trina's annoying voice rang through the air. Andre saw Tori roll her eyes in annoyance as she begrudgingly stood up and went over to her sister to loop her songs on her PearPod (which was rather silly and petty as she could easily do it herself). Andre watched her a bit before turning over to the toy blaster she had left at the table.

He then had an idea. He smirked to himself as he grabbed the blaster.

When Tori came back to the table, an exasperated expression on her beautiful face, Andre grinned inwardly to himself.

"Look at me." He said the same thing as Tori had said. She looked over at him, a curious expression on her face.

He then shot her face with the blaster, relishing in the expression on Tori's face which seemed to say 'I can't believe you did this'.

"Whoop! Now it's fun!" Andre exclaimed as he pumped his fists up in the air, doing the same 'dance' Tori had done. Andre had never heard something so sweet, so wonderful as the giggle that emanated from Tori at his act.

"You like that?" Andre raised an eyebrow at her.

Tori giggled as she nodded and playfully clapped her hands. "More, more!" Andre laughed.

The solemn mood that Andre had been in earlier seemed to evaporate as he relished in this playful banter with his best friend and secret crush.

* * *

><p>'What have I gotten myself in?' Robbie wondered to himself.<p>

He was in Tori's living room with his friends. He was sitting on one of the couches. Beck was sitting at another couch across from him. Cat in turn was sitting on the stairs, and Andre at the piano. Jade and Tori were sitting nearby. They were all eating a bunch of ice cream and checking the letters at the bottom of the buckets.

Turning his head to the left, Robbie caught Jade staring at him. He felt his heart speed up as she smiled at him while eating her ice cream. However, she began to eat her ice cream more...slowly, as if she was doing it in...a_...seductive..._way_..._

Robbie could almost feel his mind shut down, and his jeans grow tighter, as Jade began to lick her spoon seductively. Feeling his face flush, Robbie tore his gaze from Jade and focused on the ice cream bucket he was holding.

'Focus, Robbie, focus. Don't think about it...don't think about it. Hmm, ice cream...ice cream...Jade eating ice crea-AUGH!'

He exhaled out a sharp sigh as he managed to finish his ice cream, only to find a 'K'...for the third time. Everybody voiced their respective letters, which seemed to consist of 'K' and 'H'.

Finally, Tori found the letter, E.

She squealed in excitement as she handed the letter to Andre, who then placed it on the stand where the other letters were laid out. Robbie watched in slight amusement as Tori and Andre begin to give each other a double high-five, only to pause before giving each other 'high elbows' instead because their hands were sticky or something.

Robbie chuckled as he grabbed another bucket of ice cream and began eating it.

His thoughts then went to Jade and Tori. When he had first heard of the Ke$ha thingy from Andre, he had been initially concerned about that because of possible...messy outcomes. But he was somewhat relieved, mainly because Tori's preoccupation with getting out of being Trina's assistant had seemingly placed her blood feud with Jade on hold...for the time being, that is.

An hour later, Robbie had never felt so sick of ice cream before as he was feeling right now. So far, he had ate...he had lost count there, and found mainly Ks and Hs. What was up with these letters?

"I can't take it anymore." Robbie groaned as he tossed his empty basket away into the large mess of buckets that now littered most of the house.

"Me too." Jade agreed, next to him. She had moved over to sit (very close) next to him. Beck, Tori, and Cat voiced their agreements. When Jade wasn't looking, Robbie took the chance to look her up and down, taking in her appearance and thinking about how she looked..._breathtaking_ as usual. About how-

**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**

Tori's phone had beeped, indicating that it had received an update about the Ke$ha concert thing. As she picked it up, and as everyone got closer, the announcer stated the contest was over because someone from Northridge had found all letters.

To Robbie, it felt like the mood in the house had slumped. "I can't believe I ate all these ice creams for nothing!" Jade grumbled. Tori then complained that she had to endure being Trina's assistant for a month.

"Maybe..." Andre began. "...maybe Trina will just forget about it?" He said in an attempt to make Tori feel better.

* * *

><p>She didn't.<p>

Trina didn't forget about the deal. Tori was ranting on at the cafeteria table about how Trina had been so annoying when she made her give her a breath. Robbie chuckled as Tori described about how she had nearly drowned her sister in the tub. Tori saw this, and smiled a little. Jade's eyes narrowed a bit.

"Oh, I'm sorry to know that you can't do something as simple as serving Trina." Jade smarted off to Tori, who glared.

"If you think it's that easy, then perhaps YOU should do it instead!"

"I'm not the one who wrote, 'oh I want to marry a prince and live in a sugar castle.'" Jade smirked.

Tori looked like she wanted to pounce upon Jade, and would probably have had Andre not placed a calming hand on her shoulders.

"Girls, let's stop arguing. Please." Andre urged as he looked at Tori and Jade. Tori calmed down, while Jade rolled her eyes.

"Now that the contest is over, I think we should help Tori make the best of it. I mean, it's not like they're gonna announce that someone faked the contest or something and that it's gonna be back on, but-"

"Hey guys! You might want to hear this!"

It was Sinjin, running up to them with a PearPad in his hands, showing them what was on it. It was a video message from Ke$ha herself saying that the "loser" (in her own words) from Northridge had lied about finding all the letters, and that the contest was now back on.

Everyone slowly looked back up, then on to Andre, whose 'prediction' had actually come true.

"How did you do that?" Cat exclaimed. Andre looked at her weirdly, while Beck chuckled.

"T-the contest is back on!" Tori exclaimed in joy as she hugged Andre tightly. "Now I can still get out of being Trina's assistant!"

"Whoo, joy." Jade remarked sarcastically.

"Yes! Now go home and win that contest!" Sinjin encouraged Tori, of which she surprisingly complied.

* * *

><p>Jade sighed.<p>

Here she was, back at Tori's house once again. This time, scooping the ice cream and dumping it into a large container in front of her. Everyone was doing the same; it seemed that they had gotten sick of ice cream.

She knew, she was.

But at least...he was here. She felt her heart flutter and a warm sensation fill her up as she looked at Robbie. He was what made being at the home of her worst frenemy more..._bearable_. Although Beck and Andre were also here, they didn't make her feel what Robbie's mere presence made her do.

And then Robbie's eyes locked with hers, and she felt her heart get caught in her throat.

"This is fun, huh?" He said as he looked at his bucket of ice cream. "Oh hey, I got a K...again." He said the last part with sarcasm. Jade giggled.

"Indeed, this is fun...although not as fun as Tori's having, though." She gestured with her thumb over her shoulder. Robbie looked over to see a frenzied Tori panicking as she desperately emptied the ice cream buckets for the last piece, the '$'. He turned to Jade with a chuckle. "Jade, that's not nice." He playfully reprimanded.

Jade giggled again as she placed a hand over her mouth. "Ever since when am I nice?" She teased back as she emptied yet another ice cream bucket when she had an evil idea. Glancing at Robbie, Jade smirked as she opened her mouth,

"I got the $!"

"You did? Seriously?" Tori cried out in relief as she rushed over to Jade. Andre, Beck, and Cat looked grateful while Robbie was shaking his head in slight disbelief while chuckling.

"Nah, not really." Jade said matter-of-factly as she held up the letter E. Tori looked frozen on the spot as she gaped at her in disbelief. The others except Robbie groaned.

"Y-you...but you-the letter-"

Jade shrugged. "I was bored."

Tori stood there for a moment before she seemed to snap, charging at Jade before Beck and Andre interjected, grabbing hold of her and keeping her back.

"You're unbelievable, you know that?" Robbie stated. Jade smirked.

"I know." She turned her head to see Tori freaking out as Andre held her in his arms, comforting her. She could see Tori begin to beat on Andre's chest while saying something that sounded like a "_Sssssss!_"

Robbie seemed to realize something and grabbed his PearPad and began clicking on it. Jade raised an eyebrow, but before she could ask a question-

"Hey, the website says that the three easiest-to-find letters are found in the three most popular flavors-the ones that we have been buying so far-" Robbie explained before Andre interjected.

"-so they probably put the hardest-to-find letters in the least popular flavors..."

"So, what is the least popular flavor?" Beck spoke up.

Tori thought about it for a bit. "The Funky Nut Blast, I think..."

"Funky Nut Blast? Ohh, I know where we could find it! You see, my brother loves it, so-" Cat replied before she was cut off by Tori.

"You know? Where is it!" Tori began to run toward Cat, but was stopped by Andre.

"The Smarty Mart."

Turning to Andre, Tori pulled on his arm. "Drive me there!" She demanded. Andre complied and made his way toward the front door with Tori, Beck and Cat following.

Jade turned to see Robbie sitting there. "Come with me." She said with a smile.

Robbie seemed to fidget a bit. "Uh...perhaps I might stay and clean-" Jade rolled her eyes as she stood up and grabbed Robbie's arm. "Come on!" She said as she yanked Robbie off the couch and dragged him through the door, ignoring his protests. Rex was alone on the couch in the house, abandoned.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I hope you like this. Once again, review! :)**


	14. My dork

**A/N: Here's Chapter 14, guys and gals. I was feeling pretty lazy today, but somehow I muddled through with it, lol. Hope you like. :)**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Fourteen: My Dork<strong>_

Robbie was sitting in the last row of seats in the back of Andre's car, with Jade practically pressing herself against him.

Andre was driving (obviously), although it didn't help that Tori was frantically yanking on his sleeve every couple of minutes and yelling "Hurry up!" from the front passenger seat. Beck and Cat was sitting on the row behind them (and in front of Robbie and Jade).

Feeling his heart speed up at Jade's close proximity, Robbie looked at his right to see Jade looking up at him with a small smile. Her head were on his shoulder.

"So, what are you thinking about?" She inquired.

'_You_', Robbie wanted to say, but couldn't find the courage to say it, so he opted with another answer.

"I'm thinking of how you dragged me from that house, and against my will. Now poor Rex's all alone there!" Robbie replied, saying the last part with sarcasm. Jade smirked as she snuggled up to him closer and wrapped her arms around his tightly. Robbie swallowed as he felt his arm press against her..._ample_ breasts.

He had to admit that it felt..._nice_ (to say the very least).

"Well, I'd thought you could spend some time with a pretty and...hot girl like me," Jade said, emphasizing the word 'hot', making Robbie blush a bit, "Instead of that puppet of yours."

"Hey! Rex isn't a puppet!" Robbie protested, putting on a mock offended face. Jade giggled.

"Whatever you say, Robbie, whatever you say."

Silence reigned in the car (well, if you excuse the sounds of the car's engine, the tires skidding over the asphalt, Tori's frenzied exclamations, and Beck and Cat's whispered conversations) before Jade opened her mouth.

"What types of girls do you like?"

Robbie blinked and turned to look at her. She was looking back, an inquisitive expression on her face.

"What?" Jade rolled her eyes as she giggled a bit.

"Types of girls, as in brunettes, blondes, redheads? That type of stuff, silly."

Robbie nodded his head in realization as he thought about it. Well...to be honest, he hadn't thought about what types of girls he liked the best, mainly because he had been attracted to their physical looks. But as he thought about it, he had noticed that he tended to favor brunettes and redheads.

"Well...I like brunettes and redheads." He said, glancing over at Jade. He'd sworn that he saw a flick of..._jealousy_ in Jade's eyes.

"Redheads?" Jade smirked. Robbie blinked and nodded slowly.

"Well...redheads are pretty okay, but they're too pale. Brunettes are the best ones." She said as she looked at him. Robbie had swore that he saw her eyes..._sparkle_ a bit. "Trust me."

Robbie mulled over for a while before a thought struck him. He turned to Jade, plastering a slightly surprised 'expression on his face'.

"Really? My, I didn't know you..._swung_ that way."

The expression on Jade's face was priceless. Robbie had to contain his laughter as Jade opened and closed her mouth in an attempt to say something but no words came out.

"...Robbie! Don't make me hurt you!" She exclaimed as she slapped him on the chest and jabbed his sides several times. "I don't swing that way! For your information, I prefer boys!"

Robbie broke out into laughter, while Jade pouted a bit before delving into giggles.

"Well, for your information", Robbie mocked Jade's words. "I do like brunettes, especially one as pretty as you." Jade blushed at his words.

"My, aren't you now a sweet darling?" She teased. "But thanks for the compliment." Before she knew it, she gave him a peck on the cheek.

Robbie paused for a bit before he lifted his arm out of Jade's grasp and placed it around her shoulder. Jade snuggled closer, placing a hand on his chest, a contented smile on her face.

That moment ended sooner...much _too_ sooner for their liking as the car careened to a halt. They were in front of the Smarty Mart. Tori immediately got out of the car and bolted into the store, Andre following.

Robbie sighed. "Well, here we go."

* * *

><p>Cat walked into the mart with Robbie, Jade, and Beck. 'Hmmm, ice cream. I love ice cream,' She thought to herself happily. 'They are so delicious...although not as delicious as he looks...' She thought about Beck absentmindedly before she caught herself and blushed.<p>

Midst her thoughts, Cat did notice that Tori was searching through the frozen goods section of the mart, oblivious to the strange looks on the cashier's face.

"Funky Nut Blast, where are you!" He could hear Tori mutter as she searched through the buckets of ice cream stacked in the ice cream refrigerator.

"Found it!" Tori exclaimed not a moment later as she held up the bucket in the air. Andre pumped his fist up in the air. Cat clapped her hand excitedly as she let out a "Yay!" She felt happy for Tori because, well, she found the brand of ice cream that her brother loved.

However, Tori opened it up - despite the fact she hadn't paid for it yet - turned it upside down, and shook the carton to get the frozen contents out of it to see the letter at the bottom. The ice cream content fell to the ground with a _THUD!_ Wincing slightly at the sound, Cat saw out of the corner of her eyes Robbie dart up to the counter, getting his wallet out of his back pocket.

'Robbie is so sweet', Cat thought to herself with a giggle. 'No wonder Jade really likes him.'

Despite her ditzy and carefree side, Cat Valentine _actually_ noticed things, like the way that Jade and Robbie interacted with each other, about how they looked at each other when they thought the other weren't looking. Their flirting were so obvious, and so cute! Like the they did in the back of Andre's car.

In all honesty, she thought Robbie and Jade made a cute couple, like...the way she and Beck should be, she thought to herself with a blush as she glanced at her crush. Before she could mull over it further, her thoughts were interrupted by Tori's wail of "Aww! It's a H!" Tori looked so..._distressed_. Cat's heart went out for her friend.

"Hey, maybe there's more in there?" Beck inquired as he went over to look in the refrigerator. Andre shook his head. "It was the only one, probably the last one."

"Which is ironic." Jade commented.

Tori apparently had a nervous breakdown as she began to moan and groan while she slid down against the ice cream refrigerator. Cat grew worried, and so apparently were the others, even Jade.

Andre tried to comfort Tori, as well to get her to stop this. "Tori...we're in public...goodness...Please?" He said cautiously as he glanced around the mart.

Cat noticed something - or rather someone - out the corner of her eyes. A little blond boy with long hair was casually leaning against the counter, eating what appeared to be...a Funky Nut Blast ice cream!

"Hey, isn't that boy eating ice cream over there?" Cat found herself speaking as she pointed at the boy.

"Yes...and it looks like a Funky Nut Blast ice cream too!" Tori apparently recovered from her breakdown as she bounded over to the boy, followed by Robbie, Jade, and Beck.

"Um...hi." Tori smiled a bit awkwardly as she began. "I was wondering if we could have that ice cream bucket you're holding?"

The boy looked at her blankly. "No." He said simply as he continued eating. Tori and Jade sighed while Robbie and Beck shook their heads.

"Please?" Tori persisted.

"We'll pay you thirty bucks for that bucket." Jade interjected. Cat saw Robbie look at her, and she smiled at him. She held in a giggle at how cute it was.

However, she peered into the boy's empty carton and saw the latter $ in there. Squealing in excitement, Cat couldn't help but spill out the words that came out of her mouth: "Ooh! I see a $ in that bucket! Now we can win the private Ke$ha concert for sure!"

"CAT!" Tori yelled. She had a mortified expression on her face, while Andre face palmed, Robbie sighed, and Jade rolled her eyes.

Cat was surprised, if not a bit hurt at Tori's words. 'What did I do?' She was confused, until she realized something: this was a contest! Other people might be participating and she may have just screwed up the group's chances of that concert. 'Oh...I get it now!' She felt sheepish.

"All right." The boy finally said. "I'll give it to you..." Tori looked on hopefully while Cat found herself grabbing Beck's arm.

"...if." Cat heard Tori sigh.

"What do you want?" Andre spoke up.

"To come to the private concert." The boy said with a smirk on his face.

"Sure." Tori said automatically. Jade looked at her strangely.

"And..." The boy wasn't finished, however. "...I want a kiss from her." He pointed at Tori, which caused Andre to narrow his eyes slightly.

"And her." He pointed at Cat, who blinked in surprise. For some reason, she felt kinda flattered that someone wanted to kiss her. Unknown to everyone, Beck was glaring at the boy with jealousy.

"...and, um, the freaky one." The boy pointed at Jade, who looked offended.

"_What?_" She growled as she took a step toward the boy, only to have Robbie grab her arms and pull her back.

"You better stop there." Andre warned the boy.

* * *

><p>The music were blaring in Tori's house as the famous Ke$ha herself and her singers sang her song, Blow, in the living room (which had been transformed into a 'stage') and everyone were having the time of their lives.<p>

Robbie and Jade were mingling to the music, and so were Beck and Cat, and Tori and Andre. As he thought about it, Robbie had never seen Tori so exhilarated before as she was at the prospects of not being Trina's assistant anymore. He could see Trina off in the distance, dancing to the music; and the little boy watching the concert.

Turning to Jade, Robbie thought of something. Grabbing her waist, he pulled Jade close to her. She let out a yelp before smirking at him, and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"If you wanted me, Robbie, you should've just told me." She teased into his ear. Robbie could feel himself shudder as her breath tickled his ear.

"I do want you..." Robbie began, and Jade swore she could feel her blush returning to her face with full force and her chest pounding-and it was not because of the music. "...to dance with me." He finished, grinning. Jade blinked before she chuckled.

"You're such a dork."

'_My_ dork.' She thought to herself.

Robbie laughed as he continued to dance to the music, enjoying her close proximity.

In their minds, both Robbie and Jade couldn't help but feel like they were at the Danceathon itself, and they grew excited at that.

Too sooner for Robbie's liking, the song was finished. As Trina dragged a reluctant Ke$ha up the stairs to show her her room, the little boy sauntered up to Tori, Cat, and Jade.

"I believe we had a deal, girls. As in you girls each owe me a kiss." He stated, looking at all three girls. Tori sighed while Jade rolled her eyes.

"You're right, come on." Tori said as she walked toward the side door leading to a side patio, Jade and Cat following. When Tori opened the door, the smirking boy walked through it only to have Tori immediately slam the door behind him, locking it. Robbie, Beck, and Andre laughed as the boy banged on the door.

"Ohh, that's some burn, man." Andre grinned.

"Wait! I haven't even shown you my closet!" Trina was scampering after a perturbed Ke$ha down the stairs. Tori sighed and went over there and apologized for her sister's actions.

"She's your sister?" Ke$ha asked incredulously. "Wow, no offense, but I feel sorry for you."

Tori smiled knowingly. "Everyone is."

"Hey, why's that little boy all alone out there?" Trina's voice rang out. She had evidently noticed the boy standing outside the transparent door, and was heading over there.

"Trina, NO!" Tori cried while the others groaned. But it was too late, Trina had opened the door, and the boy trudged into the house, looking dejected.

"Why were you out there?" Trina asked the little boy.

"They locked me out! We made a deal, and these girls promised they were gonna kiss me and didn't." The boy exclaimed, glaring at the three girls.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Trina said as she leaned a bit. "But you can kiss me." She puckered her lips.

The boy looked grossed out. "Gross." He left the house, leaving a bewildered Trina behind.

"I stand corrected." Andre spoke up. "THAT's a burn."

Robbie looked over at Jade, who smirked.

* * *

><p>Robbie was walking down the hallway, Rex being quiet for once. It had been a couple of days since the Ke$ha concert.<p>

As he neared his locker, he heard loud voices in an argument and sighed deeply.

It was Jade and Tori. They were at it..._again_. With the Danceathon looming just around the corner, and given that Jade had...sorta helped Tori out with the Ke$ha contest, he had thought that the rivalry between the two girls would dissipate, or at least simmer down a bit.

Guess it didn't.

Overcoming the urge to turn around and walk in the other direction, Robbie continued on. True, he saw Tori and Jade engaged in an apparently heated argument, with Beck, Andre, and Cat standing nearby. The last three saw him and greeted him.

"They're still at it again?" He sighed. Beck and Andre nodded wearily.

"Pretty much yeah." Andre grumbled.

Robbie was silent for a moment as he watched the two girls. Given the recent drama, he sometimes felt like he was part of a Nickelodeon TV show or something like that. He looked at the posters about the Danceathon posted all over the walls and even some lockers.

"You must have that much effort over them to get them to argue over you, out of all things, and for that long!" Rex piped up.

"Rex, this is no time for jokes." Robbie sighed.

"Robbie!" The ventriloquist resisted the urge to groan as Jade and Tori noticed him. Glaring at each other, the girls ran up to Robbie and hugged him from both sides, Jade taking the longest to do so.

"Hi Jade, hi Tori." Robbie smiled a little, while Rex greeted them in his usual fashion.

"Ready for the Danceathon, Robbie?" Tori smiled. Jade scowled.

"Excuse me Vega, but Robbie is _MY_ date. Like I told you countless before, go find yourself a date!" Jade placed an emphasis on 'my'.

"Excuse me, West." Tori mocked - or at least tried to - Jade's tone. "But if I remember correctly, Robbie's only your 'date' for the dance. He's not your boyfriend, so you can't act like he is one."

If her expression said anything at all, it would've indicated that Jade was indeed stung by this comment. But she brushed it off, coming up with her own riposte: "Robbie's not your boyfriend either, so you can't act like you're entitled to him."

Now it was Tori's turn to be shocked.

"You...you..." She and Jade resumed their traditional argument, with Robbie and Beck attempting to meditate the situation, to little avail. Of course, it didn't help that Rex had to perpetuate the feud with his provocative comments that riled the girls up.

**BRRRRING!**

The girls continued to glare at each other, while Andre tried to think of something to help 'break the ice' - or in this case, defuse the explosive situation before it did any further damage.

He carefully placed his hands on Tori's shoulders. "Um, well...you've heard the bell. We're gonna be late for class if we don't go now." Andre suggested as he looked at Tori, then to Jade and Robbie.

"Well, you heard your boyfriend. Run away to your wittle class now." Jade sneered as she made a 'shooing' motion.

Tori glared at her rival. "First of all, Andre's not my boyfriend!" Robbie could see Andre's face fall a little, and felt sorry for his friend. "And I'll 'run away' to my class when you do that! Oh wait, you don't!"

"Andre's right. We should get going now." Beck spoke up as Cat nodded in agreement, not wanting the argument to escalate further. "And speaking of which, we're gonna go, so talk to you all later." He slapped Robbie on the shoulder before he and Cat walked away.

Tori and Jade finally relented.

"_Fine_." They said at the same time before glaring at each other. Turning to Robbie, Jade smiled before she reached up to kiss him on the corners of his lips, which sent a spark through his body.

Tori didn't look too pleased, but she then had an idea. Smirking a bit, Tori got on her tiptoes and gave a chaste peck to Robbie right on the lips, completely catching him, Jade, and Andre off-guard.

Relishing in Jade's shocked face, Tori smiled at Robbie. "Bye Robbie, see you at lunch." She said before she grabbed a surprised Andre and dragged him away with her.

As she watched Tori's departing figure, only one thing ran through Jade's mind.

_Tori Vega was going down._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Phew, another chapter completed and a few more to go. Once again, hope you like this chapter. Keep your eyes peeled for Chapter 15. **

**Once again, as usual, review! :) Let's go for 70-wait, 80 reviews. Oh wait, how about 100 reviews? xD**


	15. I'm your best friend

**A/N: Chapter 15 is here, guys and gals!**

**I have to admit, though, that the 100 reviews thingy was kinda..._mean_, lol. So I will hone that down to 75 reviews. How does that sound? ;) lol**

**Anyways, without further ado, enjoy! Hope you like.**

**Oh yeah, I don't own the song included in this chapter.**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Fifteen: I'm your best friend<strong>_

Andre was not in a good mood today. If anything, he felt...angry, frustrated, mad, disappointed, _crushed_ inside.

Tori had kissed Robbie again, this time not as a part of any stage play in a class, but because she consciously wanted to do that.

This made him feel like someone had stabbed a knife deep into his heart and were now twisting and turning it over to maximize the pain and suffering that he currently was experiencing. He could almost imagine that person cackling in sadistic laughter.

For that reason, Andre found himself unable to focus fully on his classes, tuning out his teachers' lectures because that...that _infernal_ scene was seared into his mind.

It kept on running through his mind like a broken record (or is a film?), again, again, and again. In other words, it was torturing him.

And what made it worse was that that his feelings for her was as strong as ever, and any thoughts about giving up on her and pursuing other girls were forcefully pushed out by such feelings. Despite the huge knife that was rammed deep into it, his heart still beat as strongly for Tori.

Oh why? _Why_?

He would mull over that for some time, and before he realized it, it was now lunchtime.

Andre walked out of his classroom, shoving his hands in his pocket and walked slowly through the crowded hallway, his thoughts still preoccupied.

"Hey Andre!" Andre blinked out of his thoughts as Beck approached him. "Hey man." Andre greeted. It was at that time Beck noticed Andre sulking.

"You ok, man?" Beck asked, concerned, although he already knew why. Being the observant person he was, Beck had noticed the way Andre acted around Tori and deduced that to Andre's attraction to Tori.

Andre mustered a small grin as he shrugged. "Yeah, I'm always giddy. You going to the cafeteria?"

Beck raised an eyebrow at Andre's attempt to change the subject. "Uh, yeah. Where else could we eat?" He joked, trying to lighten Andre's mood up a bit.

Andre chuckled a bit. "You got a point there, man. But uh, I gotta go somewhere. So see ya in Sikowitz's class." He said as he clapped Beck on the shoulder before walking off. He was going to the usual place where he would go whenever he was feeling down: the auditorium.

The reason why he didn't want to go to the cafeteria, Andre thought to himself, was because he didn't feel like going to the cafeteria, much less seeing Tori and Robbie at the same table. He didn't blame Robbie, considering his interest in Jade, but..._still_.

At least he had his handy chocolate milk.

* * *

><p>Jade was smirking to herself.<p>

Sitting across her sat a shocked-and drenched-Tori, who was staring at her in disbelief.

While walking to the table, Jade had 'accidentally' spilled her coffee on her rival. (And no, she didn't order hot coffee today, only an ice-cold one. As much as she may wanted it, she wasn't truly evil).

She had 'apologized' in an unconvincing way, but still. Robbie, Rex, and Cat were sitting at the table, Robbie looking at her with his eyebrows raised.

"Y-you...you..." Tori sputtered. "You did this on purpose!" She accused.

Jade pasted on an innocent look. "Did what on purpose? If you remember, Vega, it was an accident. And I did apologize."

Before Tori could say anything, Beck walked up to the table. Noticing Tori, Beck let out a "whoa" and looked at the group with a 'what just happened?' face.

"Jade accidentally spilled her coffee on Tori!" Cat spoke up.

"Only it wasn't an accident." Tori growled, narrowing her eyes at Jade.

Turning to Jade with a slight disapproving face, Beck opened his mouth. "I hope that coffee wasn't hot..." Jade rolled her eyes. "No, it wasn't."

Beck nodded before he took a seat next to Cat like he increasingly did as of recently. Cat smiled at him happily and he smiled back.

"Hey, where's Andre?" Tori inquired while she was trying to wipe the coffee off her, looking around.

The others indicated that they didn't know where he was. "He went somewhere. I don't know why, though." Beck said, although he knew why.

"Oh." Tori said as she had a tad of a worried expression on her face. "Well, I'm gonna go clean myself off now, no thanks to a certain someone." She said the last part with a growl as she glared at Jade, who smirked.

"So, see you all later." Tori said. As her revenge, she pecked Robbie on the cheek before smiling and walking away. Jade's jealous glare was burning holes on her back.

Rex was shaking his head. "Man, how is it that you got two hot babes pining for you? I can't believe it." He opined to Robbie, who rolled his eyes.

"She likes you!" Cat said to Robbie. Jade redirected her glare at the redhead, who gulped a bit.

Beck sighed and shook his head.

* * *

><p>It was nice and quiet. The perfect place to...think things over.<p>

Andre found himself in the deserted auditorium, sitting on the floor with his legs laid out. He was pressing keys at random on his keyboard on his lap. The sounds emanating out of his keyboard made him feel a bit better, but only a bit.

He grabbed his container of his chocolate milk (the 'chocolate beverage' as he liked to call it), unscrewed the cap and drank it, feeling it course down his throat. Setting the container back down, Andre sighed to himself as he began to play a random song on his keyboard.

Before he knew it, he was playing the song, **Song2You**. The song that he had performed with Tori at the cafeteria. The song that he had wrote with Tori in mind. The song what had been inspired by Tori herself.

_I don't wear designer clothes_

_I don't go to the finest schools_

_But, I know..._

_I ain't no fool, baby._

_I may not be a star_

_I'm not driving the sickest car_

_But, I know..._

_I can make you happy, baby._

_I don't know what you been used to_

_Never been with a girl like you_

_But, I can give you a love that's true to_

_Your heart, not material things..._

Andre chuckled bitterly to himself. It was true enough that he had never been with an amazing girl like Tori, that he knew he would make her happy. But...it would never happen because she was attracted to Robbie Shapiro, the nerdy puppet-toting ventriloquist! (He hadn't meant to insult Robbie like that in mind, but it just came out).

_I'll give you my song_

_These words to you_

_Sing you what I feel_

_My soul is true._

_I don't have the world_

_Can't give it to you girl,_

_But all that I can do_

_Is give this song to you._

_(Na na na, na na na)_

_(Na na na, na na na)_

_Yeah, I know that you are blessed_

_But, there's something you're missing yet_

_Your own melody..._

_Oh, baby._

_I don't know what you been used to_

_Never been with a girl like you_

_But, I can give you a love that's true to_

_Your heart, not material things..._

As he sang the song softly to himself, Andre thought about the beautiful young woman who had inhabited his mind ever since he had first set his eyes on her. About how much he had fallen for her, and couldn't get out. About how much it was eating him up inside.

_I'll give you my song_

_These words to you_

_Sing you what I feel_

_My soul is true._

_I don't have the world_

_Can't give it to you girl,_

_But all that I can do_

_Is give this song to you._

_(Na na na, na na na)_

_(Na na na, na na na)_

_I'll give you my heart, my soul, my voice; baby_

_What I can say, I'll sing it._

_Oh, Oooh, Oooooh._

_I'll give my song, these words, to you baby_

_Sing you what I feel, my soul is true._

_I'll give you my song_

_These words to you_

_Sing you what I feel_

_My soul is true._

_I don't have the world_

_Can't give it to you girl,_

_But all that I can do_

_Is give this song to you._

Andre paused as he exhaled out a breath, feeling a bit better.

"That was beautiful."

Andre jolted from utmost shock at..._her_ voice. Reluctantly turning his head, he saw Tori standing in the doorway. How long had she been there?

His heart began to beat faster as he took in her appearance. She looked beautiful as usual.

"Um..where were you? You weren't at the cafe today." Tori asked concerned as she walked over to him.

Andre shrugged. "Just...thinking about stuff, and playing on my keyboard." He gestured at the device on his lap.

"What?" Tori almost chuckled. "Let me see, you're sitting here alone, sulking in the auditorium, singing that song, and drinking...chocolate beverage?" She picked up the container of chocolate milk, raising an eyebrow.

Andre remained silent as he pressed random keys on his keyboard.

"You ok? Something's bothering you." Tori said as she sat down on the floor, across from him, crossing her legs.

At this, Andre felt something stir within him. Why did he have this feelings of..._deja vu_?

Oh yeah, that happened once before when he had gotten depressed because some record label wouldn't accept him because he'd starred in some dumb kid's musical show called the Diddly Bops. Tori, of course, had came looking for him when he'd skipped two classes and encouraged him to write the song that he had recently sung to himself.

"Yeah I'm ok. Just thinking of...stuff. But don't worry about it Tori, I'm fine."

"Don't worry about it? You're telling me to not worry about you, when you look like something's bothering you?" Tori exclaimed incredulously. "No, I won't do that. Come on, Andre, you can tell me everything."

Andre felt his resolve begin to weaken as he looked at the worried expression on Tori's beautiful face.

"It...it...it's really nothing." Andre tried to protest but was silenced by Tori's glare.

"Andre." Her voice was firm, but he could hear a slightly pleading overtone in it. Andre remained silent as he debated with himself of whether to tell her what was bothering him - and risk have his crush on her exposed - or continue deny it and risk Tori's incessant questioning (if there was anything he knew about his best friend, it was that she could get pretty persistent at times). He grabbed his container and drank more out of it.

"Andre, I'm your best friend. You can tell me anything. I won't get mad." Tori urged, scooting closer to him.

It was at that Andre felt something snap inside him.

* * *

><p>Robbie found himself in Jade's room.<p>

As he laid on her bed, inhaling her scent that had drove him crazy, and looking around her room, he thought about what had transpired earlier.

After Tori had left the cafeteria after Jade 'accidently' spilled her drink over her, Robbie had indicated his disapproval at Jade's action. To his surprise, Jade looked a little guilty, but she still maintained that Tori didn't have to be so..._persistent_.

When Robbie reminded Jade that they were only doing to the dance together, nothing more, her response had surprised him further: "I hope we'll become something more..." She had whispered it to herself, but he still heard it.

Nevertheless to say, this had been on his mind ever since. But that wasn't all.

When Jade had asked him why he didn't tell Tori to back off, Robbie had to admit that he really didn't know why. Maybe he liked the thought of two beautiful girls fighting over him? ...nah, he wasn't that kind of person to delight in that, but he was fairly sure there was _something_ other.

Perhaps he was still attracted to Tori...? No, it surely wasn't that. Robbie thought about how whenever he'd looked at Tori, he didn't feel the strong feelings that usually came over him whenever he looked at Jade.

But still...what was it? He didn't know.

Robbie sighed as he took a breath, feeling a little headache coming on.

The reason he was in Jade's room was because she had asked him to come over there after school, saying she wanted to show him something. Raising an eyebrow, Robbie agreed to go, although he wondered what was it that she wanted to show him.

"Maybe she might put on a strip show for you!" Rex had cracked while a blushing Robbie had given him a time-out, alas, stuffing him into his backpack despite the puppet's protests.

When he'd arrived at Jade's house, she had taken his hand and led him upstairs into her room. "Make yourself at home. I have something I want to show you in a bit." She had said with a mysterious smile that for some reason _turned him on_ a bit.

After she had exited, closing the door a bit, Robbie took the time to explore Jade's room, which wasn't what he had expected her room to look like (it was the first time he had been there, after all). It looked like a typical girl's bedroom, complete with some stuffed animals and the like - although it did have scissors and sharp objects decorated on the walls, which was typical of Jade. Jade wasn't kidding when she had said that she hated the color pink, though; there weren't any.

Having explored Jade's room a bit (but avoiding her closet and dresser, no matter how tempted he had felt), Robbie went to sit on her bed for a bit. However, when he had gone into thinking, he had subconsciously shifted his body so that he was laying on her bed, his arms behind his head and his legs crossed.

So engrossed in his thoughts, Robbie didn't see or hear the door open.

"Robbie, what do you think?" Jade's voice rang out.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Robbie looked over at her.

And he felt his eyes nearly pop out, all thoughts desert him, and his mouth gape while his breath hitched.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I love double cliffhangers. Don't you? :)**

**As usual, review! Love you all. You guys are awesome.**


	16. Where do we go from here?

**A/N: Have no fear! I, Sir GallaudetLurker, is here to slay the evil double-headed cliffhanger dragon and save y'all from the evil castle! AHHHHH!**

***clears throat***

**Hope you like, enjoy.**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Sixteen: Where do we go from here?<strong>_

_And he felt his eyes nearly pop out, all thoughts desert him, and his mouth gape while his breath hitched._

As he stared at the girl in front of him, Robbie felt like his body was undergoing two different, contrasting experiences - at the same time. Whereas his brain function had all but shut down, his lower body function seemed to come to life, which was illustrated when his pants became much _tighter_. His heart had never beaten so hard to such an extent that it became painful in his tightly constricted chest before in his life.

His vacillated eyes roamed over Jade's shapely body - or rather, the thin fiber that covered her shapely body as he struggled to inhale air into his lungs and to exhale the carbon dioxide out from these same lungs.

Jade looked...looked... well, gorgeous would be an insult to her and what she was wearing.

She was wearing a dark, tight-fitting gown that flowed down her body, hugging it perfectly, with a slit on the side that exposed her shapely leg. But what tugged at his heartstrings and aroused a feeling of..._lust_ that he didn't know existed within him wasn't only the way the gown snuggled around her curvy figure, but the way it seemed to bring out...her _breasts_.

Yes, breasts. These two mounds that protruded from her chest, as from every female inhabiting the earth, the one feature that men (and even women) over the course of history had fantasized, adored, idolized, worshipped, even touched in a variety of ways that will not be explained here.

He had, for some time, known that despite her usual clothing, Jade had large breasts (not that he actually looked at them in such a blatant way that he was doing right now, mind you) - and they were prominent in her dress gown, which was being held up by slender straps.

Wait...was she even wearing a bra? It sure looked like she wasn't...

As he lay there on the bed, entranced, Jade walked over to him with a sway in her hips, a shy smile on her reddening face. Her hips weren't the only aspects that were swaying; he could see her breasts sway slightly, and this turned him on even more.

If that was her prom dress, Robbie-or the part of his brain that somehow managed to function at all-thought, then what would her nightgown look like...?

Before he could think further on this, Jade opened her mouth.

"So...what do you think?" She inquired as she gave a swirl, looking attentively at Robbie. She giggled a little as she looked at his spaced-out face.

"Uhh...uh..." Robbie sputtered as he tried to form coherent words. Jade giggled more.

"Now, now, didn't your mother tell you that it's not polite to stare?" Jade teased. When Robbie continued to gape at her, she leaned slightly toward him-exposing her impressive cleavage more-placed a finger under his chin and closed his mouth.

Robbie felt a spark emanate from her touch, a spark that sent chills all over his body.

Before he could control himself, before he could realize it, before he could even comprehend about comprehending it, Robbie grabbed her hand and held it. Jade's eyes widened a bit as her smile grew.

Still grasping her hand, Robbie sat up on the bed so that Jade was right in front of him, their faces fairly close to each other. Their eyes were locked right on each other, both unable to look away.

"What do you think...?" Jade whispered the question again. Robbie looked at her once again.

"I-I think..." Robbie managed to recover the ability to speak as his mind were slowly putting itself back together, although he was feeling a strong...desire that he found himself unable to hold down.

He paused to take a breath in a futile attempt to calm his wildly-beating heart.

"Jade, you look...you look..._beyond_ beautiful." Robbie whispered before he placed his other hand on Jade's face and, before he could think, pulled her into a kiss with such an intensity that he didn't know he could muster, one that she immediately returned with equal force.

As his lips meshed with her furiously, he wrapped his arms around her petite waist while she did the same around his neck.

Slowly, they descended into the bed, lips still locked, Jade climbing on top of Robbie so she was straddling him, her hair falling around them.

* * *

><p><em><strong>EARLIER<strong>_

_"Andre, I'm your best friend. You can tell me anything. I won't get mad." Tori urged, getting closer to him._

_It was at that Andre felt something snap inside him._

"That's all I'll be to you!" Andre snapped, shocked at his own confession, Tori had a confused look in her eyes. But before he could try to retract his confession, Andre felt an overriding compulsion to get off his chest something that had been bothering from him for some time.

"That's all I'll be to you...a best friend." Andre repeated as he looked into Tori's eyes, a disappointed expression on his face, a sad tone in his voice.

"W-what do you mean?" Tori managed to speak out, questions swimming in her brown orbs.

At this point of time, Andre wanted to backtrack and say something offhand to try to cover it up, but he...couldn't.

"Tori...I know you are my best friend, and I am yours. But, it's just that...that...euch, this is _harder_ than I thought." Andre muttered to himself, his voice lowering to a whisper by the last part. It didn't help that he felt conflicting emotions inside him that began to rage like a thunderstorm. On one hand, he wanted to tell her so badly, yet at the same time he didn't want to, due to fears of rejection and ruination of his friendship with Tori.

He couldn't live with himself if the last part happened. But still, he felt he had no choice.

"But what?" Tori asked curiously, getting closer to him and grabbing his arm.

Andre looked at her for a moment before sighing.

"Tori...it's just that...that you're my best friend and...uh-" He began to trail off. Growing exasperated, Tori tugged on his arm. "Tell me! Please, I hate to see you like this." Andre could feel his resolve slowly crumbling at the pleading look on his best friend's face.

Taking a breath, Andre steeled himself for what he was about to say next.

"Tori, you're my best friend," He began in a surprisingly level voice, "And that's why it's hard for me to do this, to continue that the way things are now...not especially my feelings for you."

Tori looked taken aback. "Andre, what do y-"

"Tori, let me finish, please." Andre said as he removed the keyboard from his lap and got up, running his hands through his dreadlocks. Tori closed her mouth and nodded, as if urging him to continue on.

"Ever since we became best friends-ever since I first laid eyes on you, I've-do you have any idea of how hard it is to be best friends with someone else that you don't want to be merely best friends with?" He began pacing around the floor.

He looked at Tori before continuing on.

"W-what I mean to say, Tori, is that...that...I've had feelings for you. Ever since I first laid eyes on you." Here it was, his feelings were now out, and Andre was fairly sure it was the beginning of the end of their friendship.

Tori's eyes were widened as she looked at him. "Andre..." She tried to say, but Andre cut her off.

"You see, I had been in love with you, Tori. I mean, how could I not? You're beautiful, sweet, caring, smart-everything a guy would ever want in a girl. That's why it was hard for me to be your best friend every day, not when you're falling hard for someone you...should not fall for."

He turned away from Tori and continued his rant. "...not especially when I wanted to become more...not especially the way I had hoped to go with you to the Danceathon, to be with..._you_."

Sighing, Andre threw his hands up in the air. "But I know you don't feel the same way, Tori...I know you like Robbie...now that I went ahead and ruined our friendship, but I just had t-"

"Who said I don't feel the same way?" Andre felt electrified by her words and he whirled around to see Tori smiling at him. She was on her feet.

"W-what...but you...you...Robbie...what are you say-"

Tori laughed, her angelic voice tickling his ears and sending a pleasurable chill down his spine.

"What I'm saying, Andre Harris, is that I like you, as in more than best friends." Tori said as she walked over to him, a slight blush on her face. "You have no idea how long I had waited for you to tell me that. You have no idea."

"But-you kissed Robbie, and f-flirted with h-him..." Tori smiled.

"If you forgot one thing, Andre, we're in an acting school. Since I didn't know how to...to...let you know that I liked-no, like-you, I asked Robbie for help to try to catch your attention. Oh and Jade too, although to be honest I was surprised she agreed in the first place."

Andre blinked a couple of times as he took in this surprising revelation. "R-really...? So you tried to make me...jealous?" He said as he felt the corners of his lips curl up. This had to be a dream...he was probably still on his bed in his house and he was about to wake up to a cruel reality where Tori was in love with Robbie.

Yeah, it made sense. He _had_ to be dreaming. He just had to.

Tori giggled as she nodded, her hair falling around her face before she brushed it. "Did it work?" She asked.

Andre stared at Tori. She giggled some more. "I'll take that as a yes."

"But..but your kiss with Robbie-it looked rea-" She cut him off by grabbing him and pulling him into a kiss, her lips meshing against his. To say that this was the greatest thing he had ever experienced in his life was a _massive_ understatement. He placed his hands on her waist and kissed her back.

She broke the kiss after several moments, her lips looking slightly swollen. "The kiss with Robbie was not real. However...THIS is real." Tori smiled. "You have no idea how close Jade came to killing me, though." Her face then became serious.

"Andre Harris..." She began, looking at him.

"Go to the dance with me."

* * *

><p><em><strong>CURRENT<strong>_

The kiss was getting heated by the second.

Robbie and Jade's tongues were battling for dominance, and so far Jade was winning - although this didn't mean Robbie didn't battle back.

There was a tangle of arms and legs on Jade's bed as Robbie was now on top of her, nestled between her legs. It was a miracle that Jade's gown, which had hitched up her legs, didn't tear or stretch or anything like that.

Their hands were roaming each other's bodies. Jade for one moaned into Robbie's mouth when his hands found themselves on her chest, squeezing them tightly, feeling something hard protude from the dress. Jade snaked her hands to his ass and squeezed them in return.

Robbie wasn't sure if it was the need for air that was getting too strong to ignore, or if it was a sudden realization that impacted him that caused him to break off the kiss. Panting, Robbie sat up on the bed, his heart beating wildly, his face heated.

And this wasn't mentioning his third best friend that were standing tall and proud in his pants.

"W-why did you stop...?" Jade breathed out, her eyes dark with lust, her voice thick with desire.

Robbie turned to her and exhaled.

"I-I shouldn't have done that...I-I wasn't thinking...I'm sorry." He stuttered out before putting his face on his hands.

Jade stared at him with a bewildered look on her face. "N-no, Robbie, it's not your fault. If anything, I was in this as much as you were." She said with a smile, her cheeks still tinted with red.

He raised his head to look at her.

A moment of silence followed.

"So...w-where do we go from here...?" He mumbled, breaking the silence. Jade seemed to be in thought as well.

"Um..." Jade started to say something. "Well...I have another dress I could show you...I think you would like it, given that you indeed liked this dress so much." She smirked a bit. Robbie blushed.

Thank God he didn't bring Rex.

"Uh..." Robbie tried to think of something to reply as he locked eyes with Jade. And found themselves getting lost in her dark brown orbs.

"Kiss me again." Jade demanded, her voice now husky.

Robbie quickly complied, slamming his lips against hers.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, feelings are revealed and there are some kisses along the way. I think I did a decent job on his chapter.**

**Also, I think things might get...mature later on, so I'm thinking I may change the rating to a M soon, to be safe.**

**Hope you like this chapter. Because if you don't...well, I suppose I can rewrite this chapter...and erase out the Rade kiss scenes or something...**


	17. The Danceathon

**A/N: *dances to music* Oh yeah Chapter Seventeen is here baby! Oh yeah! Oh yeah shake it, baby! Shake it baby!**

**Party on dudes and dudettes!**

**(In other words, enjoy this chapter. Hope you like.)**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter Seventeen: The Danceathon<strong>_

Lights were flashing, illuminating the dark night. Music were blasting throughout the area, punctuating the still night air. Hundreds of Hollywood Arts students and their fates, dressed up in various suits and dresses ranging from the outright sexy all the way to outright freaky, mingled on the large expanse of land that comprised the school's large (and deserted) parking lot that the school authorities had authorized for the event's use.

And not to mention, a band of musicians and singers were playing on the makeshift stage in front of the crowds, generating the music that reverberated throughout the area like a mild earthquake. The students were like a vast human sea that moved along with the music.

The long-awaited Danceathon was finally here, and everyone was looking forward to having the night of their lives, one that would be memorable for some of them.

Particularly a _certain_ ventriloquist and the goth girl who was his date. It was indeed to be the night of their lives, and they certainly felt excitement course through their bodies like the beat of the music went through them. The excitement was palpable in the air.

Robbie smiled as he looked at Jade, his date-and now his girlfriend.

_Girlfriend?_ You mean...?

Yes, Robbie had actually asked her out, which will be explained in a bit (not that this is a fanfiction, where some random writer named 'GallaudetLurker' would type this down on his laptop, of course).

As he weaved through the crowd, Robbie looked at Jade, his hand intertwined with hers. His eyes looked her up and down of their own accords, and Robbie couldn't help but smile as he took in the..._voluptuous_ sight next to him. Jade, for one, was wearing that...gown that he had first seen her in in her room the week before.

He felt himself begin to get a bit hard. Yep, the sight of her in that gown still aroused certain feelings and reactions from him.

"See something you like?" A sultry voice called out.

He blinked, snapping out of his thoughts, looking up to meet Jade's eyes (he wondered how he heard her despite the music). She was smirking, although she was blushing a bit. He felt his heart speed up a bit, despite the loud music, feeling the blood flooding into his face as he smiled somewhat sheepishly.

"Uh...um...I was enjoying the lovely view." He said, smiling. Jade's blush deepened a bit.

In utmost seriousness, Jade looked..._absolutely_ gorgeous. If her tight gown brought out her curvaceous figure, her make up really brought out her face, most especially her eyes. Her mascara was applied perfectly, even, not too much. Her cheek had a bit of a blush on it, and her lips had a thin layer of lip-gloss (which Robbie found out tasted like strawberry). Her dark hair cruised down her face like waves.

In short, she looked like a goddess.

Robbie felt a bit like a chump, although he did rent a nice tuxedo that was probably more befitting that of a secret agent than a nerdy ventriloquist like himself (at least, that was what the perplexed stare of a cashier of the tuxedo store had probably told him)-although the way Jade had pounced on him upon seeing him in his tuxedo put to rest any doubts he might have had about how his girlfriend would think of his outfit.

Rex had a field day, though, mocking Robbie when Jade had left.

"Getting a tad cheesy, aren't we?" Jade teased, smirking.

More than once, Robbie wondered how he got a gorgeous young woman like Jade. Why, it was like a few weeks before that he had been shunned by girls at his school, especially Trina. Now here he was, at the Danceathon with a beautiful girl on his arm-and that girl was Jade West who happened to be his girlfriend.

As he walked alongside Jade, aware of her eyes on him, his hands holding hers, Robbie thought about the past few days, his mind devolving into a flashback along the way.

* * *

><p><em><strong>FLASHBACK<strong>_

Was it him, or was the room getting too much hot?

He could hear Jade's moan as his lips roamed from her swollen lips to her neck, as he began to suck it gently and then increasingly harder. Her moans correspondingly became louder and her breaths shallower.

She surely would have a hickey.

As his lips trailed downwards, Robbie dimly assessed his current situation: he was lodged between Jade's legs, which were almost encircled around his waist. Her gown straps were off her shoulders, her hands firmly grasping his curls, silently encouraging...no, _begging_ him to continue on.

Before he knew it, he had reached her chest area, his lips moving down into her cleavage, trailing his tongue around the valley of her breasts, eliciting another moan from the girl. Grasping her left mound, Robbie squeezed it for a bit, relishing in the ecstatic look on Jade's face, before moving the hem of her gown downwards with his teeth and revealing her perky C-cup breast.

Relishing in her creamy skin, Robbie took her hard, rosy nipple into his mouth and began sucking it, feeling her arch her body against him and her hands tighten painfully in his hair. At the same time, his left hand reached to her right breast, where he promptly exposed it to reveal yet another perky breast, erect and desperate for attention. No sooner had he pinched it and rubbed his fingers around the overly-sensitive nubs did he hear a sharp intake of breath, followed by a whimpering moan.

_"_Oh_ Robbie..."_ Jade breathed out, her body convulsing in pleasure mostly emanating from her sensitive chest area. As he switched to her other breast and gave it rapt attention, Jade's mind felt like it was on overload. Between her legs, which she could feel something...hard poke her, she was feeling wet-and getting wetter by the second.

"Robbie..._Robbie_..." Jade's moans wafted to Robbie's ears as he began to suck on her breasts harder.

_"Robbie...Robbie..."_

* * *

><p>"Robbie!"<p>

Robbie snapped back to reality with such a start that he nearly bumped heads with Beck, who was shaking his shoulders with both hands, Cat standing by his side with a worried expression on her face, and Jade clutching his shoulder, looking with him with concern.

As his eyes refocused, Robbie blinked several times before he was able to get a focus on Beck, Jade, and Cat. Looking at Jade, he saw that she was blushing heavily, though.

As he thought about his...flashback, Robbie had a thought running through his mind.

_How did a flashback turn into something...sexual?_

It was at that Robbie had realized something: he felt a bit hard between his legs, so he shuffled his feet a bit to try to hide any..._distinctiveness_ that might get visible.

"Rob, you ok? You looked out of it there, man." Beck inquired, a curious look on his cool face. Noticing Robbie's disoriented expression on her face and glancing at Jade's flustered face, Beck couldn't resist a small smirk.

"I...um..." Robbie sputtered a bit before drawing in a long breath. "S-sorry Beck, I just have quite a bit on my mind.

Beck nodded slowly, still smirking, his eyebrows raised slightly.

"No problem, Rob...though that must have been a good fantasy there. I'm sure Jade must have liked it."

Jade glared at her ex-boyfriend, while Robbie felt like he had never blushed so much before in his life that he was feeling at the moment. He wasn't the only one to blush, though: Jade and Cat's cheeks were tinted pink, the latter slapping her date on the shoulder.

Glancing at Jade and Cat, Robbie greeted the redheaded girl before leaning slightly toward his girlfriend. "Um...did I...say your name or something?" He whispered near her ear, which involuntarily made her shudder a bit.

Still flushing a bit, Jade nodded. Robbie held back a groan as he sighed.

"Jade, I-I'm sorry..." He whispered before she shushed him. "Don't worry about it. At least we know how much you feel about me." She smirked.

Beck held back a snicker, which caused Jade to glare at him.

"Hey, I see Tori and Andre! Over here guys!" Robbie heard Cat yell, and turned his head to see Tori and Andre in the distance, walking toward them, hand in hand.

Robbie smiled to herself. So Tori's quest to make Andre jealous had worked then. He was truly happy for the couple, although he hoped the rivalry between Tori and Jade would settle down for a while. (Though they were pretend, their feud at times became frighteningly realistic, and Robbie had been concerned about that several times).

As he greeted Andre and Tori, who he noticed had a grateful smile aimed at him, Robbie thought back to the day he had asked Jade out-for real.

* * *

><p><em><strong>FLASHBACK<strong>_

"You're a player."

"Rex." Robbie sighed.

"It's true! First you hit on Trina, then Cat, then both at the same time, then Jade, then Tori, and now Jade! Yep, you're a player."

"You know I don't do that."

"Said the player."

"Rex! How many do I have to say it?"

"As many as possible, my friend. You wanna try it?"

Robbie shook his head. Rex had been on this 'player' thingy since he somehow found out that Robbie made out with Jade on her bed.

As he walked through the hallway, Robbie's mind found itself returning to the..._amazing_ kiss he had shared with Jade on her bed a few days before. Ever since that fateful day, he couldn't stop thinking about it, about how...beautiful Jade looked in that dress of hers, about how he was flared up with desire, about how...about how...he was falling even more harder for her than before.

Indeed, the image of Jade in that dress was seared right into his mind, impossible to eradicate from his mind without years of strenuous effort, one such effort that he really didn't want to conduct.

If anything else, the last kiss had ignited within him a particularly strong feeling that he would burst if he continued to hold it in any longer and not, like, ask her out. At that moment, as before, he began to think about the prospects of dating Jade, as in asking her to be his girlfriend. He thought about what it would like to be with Jade, to take her out on dates, to hold her close...to kiss her...to tell her he loved her. That every day for the rest of his life.

However, one of these negative thoughts surfaced in his mind once again. What if he was falling too fast, that it would be too sooner? Yes, Jade had kissed him three times, and came near to doing that once. Yes, she was obviously attracted to him, but...what if he was looking into it the wrong way as he did in the past, with Trina?

Yes, it was probably silly to worry about that, but it just..._happened_.

Like he and Jade just..._happened_ to make out.

Shaking his head to clear his cluttered thoughts, midst his blush, Robbie sighed as he continued on toward his locker. For some inexplicable reason, he felt nervousness course over him.

His heart lurched.

She was there. Jade was at her locker, putting stuff in it.

Not listening to Rex's exhortations of "Go get her, Casanova!", Robbie took in the sight of her. She looked somewhat...different (but in a good way). For one, she was wearing dark jeans and a tank top covered by a dark jacket.

As he looked at her, he felt his breathing grow labored as his heart sped its beating. Yeah, his feelings and attraction toward her had _definitely_ grown.

She seemed to sense his presence because she turned around, her eyes widening slightly at the sight of him, her lips curving up in a smile.

"Hi Robbie." She was twirling the ends of her hair a bit with her fingers. Robbie could see a bruise forming on her neck. The hickey he had sucked into her neck. Her long hair covered it up, though. Thank God.

"H-hi, Jade." Robbie mustered a smile while Rex got out a "hey babe." He opened his locker, feeling her eyes on him. Taking a breath, Robbie placed Rex into the locker before turning to Jade.

"So..uh, how are you?" He wanted to slap himself.

Jade smiled. "I've been good...you?"

From that point, Robbie and Jade chatted for a while, punctuated by moments of silence. Finally, that moment came, the moment where Robbie felt like he was close to bursting that something careened out from his mouth before he could even realize it.

"Jade, do you want to go out with me? As in be my girlfriend?"

_Oh shit._

What did he just say? He didn't mean to blurt it out like that!

Robbie felt like time stood still as he saw Jade's eyes widen. The only sound he could hear were not the chattering from other students in the hall around them, not the thudding of feet, not Rex's wisecracks, only his thudding heart that seemed to make his eardrum feel like close to bursting. Panic began to infiltrate his mind like a skilled super spy infiltrating a top-secret institution.

What if...what _if_-

Suddenly, he felt soft lips on his. Jade was kissing him again! Robbie felt his lips tingle as she pulled back, a large smile on her face.

"Uh...um...d-do that-" Robbie sputtered out.

Jade giggled a bit. "The answer is: yes, I would like to go out with you." She said before she pressed her lips back into his in a soft kiss.

_**FLASHBACK END**_

* * *

><p>"Hey, is Robbie okay?" A voice, Cat's, rang out.<p>

Robbie blinked as he found Beck, Cat, and Jade looking at him. Andre and Tori had apparently gone off somewhere. The music had grown more softer and gentle, and he could see from the corners of his eyes many couples dancing with each other. He felt his face begin to flame up a bit.

"Yes, I'm sure he's okay, given that he's in a good place again." Beck grinned as he sipped his beverage, almost taking a step back when Jade shot him a death glare.

"Come on, Robbie." Jade said as she grabbed Robbie by the arm and began to drag him through the crowds, leaving Beck and Cat behind.

Beck and Cat stood there in silence, the former sipping his drink and the latter fidgeting a bit. Beck turned to Cat, who smiled at him shyly before he set his drink down and held out a hand.

"Dance with me?" He said smoothly, smiling.

Cat giggled as she gingerly took his hand. The two went through the crowd in the other direction.

In the meanwhile, Jade had managed to find a..._secluded_ place (that is, if you can call it 'secluded') somewhere to the left of the stage. Robbie could do little but marvel at Jade's beauty as she turned to face him, strands of her hair falling over her face, a smile on her lips.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He could feel her..._breasts_ smush against his chest.

As the soft music drifted through the air, Robbie felt himself sway to it along with Jade, who had placed her head into his neck. At this, he felt like their bodies...fit together perfectly, like a puzzle.

He felt himself smile as he enjoyed the moment, as he inhaled her hair scent. Somehow he knew she was smiling too.

She was.

After some time (how exactly, Robbie didn't know), the music began to pick up, sounding like...salsa? Robbie and Jade looked at each other, before Robbie smiled and proceeded to follow the beat of the music. Jade felt her body follow the beat as she and her boyfriend stepped and twisted their hips, each other imitating the other. Robbie spun her around and took the lead, his eyes never leaving hers.

This continued for some time.

Then Robbie caught her off guard when he slipped his arm behind Jade's thigh before lifting her to his side, holding her before spinning around and letting her slide down his body to their knees.

To say Jade was amazed was the understatement of the year as she gaped at the boy in front of her, smiling down at her. Without breaking a beat, Robbie pulled her up to his face level before he spun her around and pulled her back to him, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"W-wow..." Jade breathed out. Robbie's smile widened as he continued to twist and circle with her. When Robbie pulled her back, he slipped his hand under her thigh once again (but not before passing by her butt and eliciting a gasp of pleasure from her) and lifted it to his side.

Their faces were now very close to each other, their eyes boring into each other, their hearts beating hard, their breaths mingling with each other, their lips mere inches apart.

There was only one thought running through Jade's blown mind.

_'It was amazing.'_

* * *

><p>Robbie felt like he was the happiest guy on Earth. This was indeed the night of his life, one of the most amazing days he had ever experienced. He'd had a wonderful time with his new girlfriend, and Jade looked like she was having the time of her life too.<p>

And there was no Rex to interrupt that moment. Robbie thanked God that he had decided to leave Rex at home.

After he'd impressed Jade with that salsa dance, they had danced some more, with several more dances (where Jade in turn amazed him). At one time, a crowd had even formed around them, clapping wildly and cheering them on (even Cat and Beck had appeared, where the red-haired girl squealed with all her heart, cheered for Robbie and Jade, and even dragged an amused Beck to dance with her).

Time apparently flew by when one was having the fun of their lives because the dance was now over. Robbie, much less anyone, didn't know how much time had passed - and he didn't care. The important thing was that he got to dance with Jade and have a wonderful time (and not to mention, a few heated kisses too).

After a comfortable silence in the drive to Jade's house to drop her off, upon arriving there, Robbie had escorted Jade to the front door, their hands intertwined. There, Jade had asked if he wanted to come in.

Knowing the implications, Robbie had regretfully turned her offer down, explaining to a pouting Jade that it was a school night and that they had had to turn in soon. Before he left, Jade had given him a mind-blowing kiss that made him weak in the knees. After he'd staggered to his car and got in, he saw her standing at her front door, watching him.

As his car rumbled to life, as he drove off Jade's street and made several turns before stopping at a red light, Robbie smiled as he recalled the dance of his life, and his time with Jade, most especially her kiss. He could still taste her strawberry-flavored lip-gloss on his lips, and began to feel a pang of regret for not taking her up on her offer.

The light turned green, and Robbie pushed on the accelerator, his mind thinking. As his car veered toward the middle of the intersection, Robbie saw something cruise toward him at high speed out of the corner of his eyes, something that greatly resembled a large car with bright lights - but it was too late. It slammed right into the driver side of his car with terrible speed.

His world went black.

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><p><strong>AN: *hides behind shield* I'm not evil, I swear! I do like Robbie! Please don't kill me!**

**Ehm...**

**After this chapter, I'm thinking that I might make two more chapters, one where Robbie survives and one where he...doesn't (sorta like an alternate reality or something like that). After that, there might be one or two more chapters before the epilogue. That depends on your reviews, of course.**

**And, um...I'm not really good at dance scenes, so I hope they were good. And um...I think I've covered everything...yeah.**

**Oh yeah...one more thing: review!**

***hides***


	18. I didn't realize he was so popular

**A/N: After taking Zen's and others' reviews into account, doing some thinking, and dealing with writer's block, laziness, and procrastination, and others, I decided not to write the sad AU chapter. This is a romance story, after all, so it should be a happy story (well, for the most part anyways, lol).**

**So...yeah. Hope you like this chapter. I'm still dealing with writer's block and laziness, though.**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Eighteen: I didn't realize he was so popular<strong>_

Jade walked through the hallways of H.A. toward her locker, her mind thinking about last night. Since that time, she felt like her mind was on a constant reel because she couldn't stop thinking about how wonderful a time she had with Robbie.

At the mere thought of his name, Jade felt butterflies flutter in her stomach as she suppressed a giggle. She, however, couldn't stop the ends of her lips from curling up a little.

As she reached her locker, discreetly glancing at Robbie's locker next to hers and opened it, she thought about how..._amazing_ a dancer Robbie was. To be honest, she didn't know-much less expect-he was a great dancer, one who certainly _blew_ her away with his skills.

She fought a blush that was threatening to creep up her face as she reminisced about how his hands roamed over her body while they were dancing, especially when they performed a wide range of dance moves. In fact, when Robbie had pulled her thigh over his side, she had to admit that she got..._turned on_ a bit.

When she had gotten her books, as detestable as they were, and closed her locker, she leaned against it and crossed her arms, glancing down the hallway once in a while as she waited for her boyfriend to show up. Several students glanced at her as they passed her by, some scurried past her in fear, and few greeted her-which she usually ignored.

It seemed that Jade's social status was not impacted much by dating Robbie, something that, as much she hated to admit it even to herself, was something of a relief. Although the students had certainly been surprised when Jade began going out with someone who they thought she had hated, they slowly got used to it, owing to their fear of her and her personality.

And it probably helped that Robbie was one of the least popular persons at the school, meaning there would be little to no chances of girls being interested in her Robbie and taking him away from her-once again, that was not something Jade liked to admit to. But even so, it seems that a couple of girls had seemed to show some interest in Robbie, although they were quickly scared off by her scalding glare.

She saw someone approach from the corners of her eyes, and the anticipation that she might have had of finally seeing Robbie were quickly dashed when Cat skipped up to her, a bright smile on her face.

"Hi Jade!" She greeted with a wave.

Jade smirked a little. "Hey Cat."

"You were great in the dance, and I must say I'm so jealous of you! You see, my brother once went to this..." She went on to gush about something at the dance, or something, but Jade didn't care as she tuned the redheaded girl out.

Her mind went back to Robbie once again, and she glanced quickly down the corridor when she thought Cat wouldn't notice.

Unfortunately, she did.

"Hey, Who're you looking for?" Cat spoke up as she craned her head to look upon both sides of the hallway. Her eyes with widened a bit as she seemed to realize something.

"Oh, you're waiting for Robbie! Aw, that's so sweet!" Cat gushed, clapping. Jade rolled her eyes.

"I wonder where he is?" Cat continued.

"You're not the only one wondering." Jade drawled in her usual tone, although on the inside she was _beginning_ to get pangs of worry. Robbie usually showed up at around this time.

_Was he okay?_ She found herself thinking. _Did his car break down or something? Did something happen to him?_ Before the pangs of worry could get deeper, Jade mentally shook her head.

Nah, Robbie was probably fine. His car did have this tendency to break down from time to time, despite Beck's excellent mechanic skills.

But _still_...he should've called or texted her, or something.

**BRRRRING!**

Sighing, Jade got off her locker, and with a last glance down the hallway, went to her class, not hearing Cat bid her bye.

In classes, her thoughts were on Robbie, and she even sent him a text once while in class (without the teacher noticing), of which she received no response. As hard as she tried to keep it down, the pangs of worry only grew more deeper as time went on and she even got this strange, unsettling feeling in her guts that she didn't fully understand.

Her guts were beginning to tell her that something may have happened to Robbie, but Jade pushed it aside.

She was in her Drama class, along with Tori, Andre, Cat, Beck, and Sinjin. Robbie's usual seat next to her (Sikowitz's class wasn't the only one that she shared with Robbie, neither was it the only class that she'd sat next to him). The teacher, Paul, was doing a lecture pertaining to drama when their guidance counselor, Lane walked into the class, looking distressed.

"I'm sorry for the interruption, class." Lane said as he looked at the teacher and class. "But it concerns one of your students, Robbie Shapiro."

As the teacher became curious, Jade couldn't help but feel herself growing worried and a bit panicked. She shared glances with Cat, Tori, Beck, and Andre, all who had concerned expressions on their faces.

"I got a call from his parents this morning," Lane continued. "And Robbie...h-he's in the hospital." Several gasps broke out from all over the room as the class and the teacher seemed to be shocked by this news, many of them sitting up in their seats in disbelief, Jade herself included.

"W-what?" Jade found herself say out loud with her eyes widened, her mind racing. Robbie...her Robbie was in the _hospital_? But, but she had just seen him last night, and he was fine...unless...

"It turns out that, last night, while driving, Robbie's car was struck by another car, probably a drunk driver. From what I've heard, the damage was pretty terrible, his car was pretty totaled. H-he's in critical condition..." The counselor's voice trailed off.

A stunned silence reigned over the room before it was broken by Paul. "Is..is he going to be a-alright..?" The teacher asked.

"I'm not sure, but they said that given the scope of the injuries he had sustained, there is a slim chance he would make it." Lane answered.

* * *

><p>When the teacher excused them from class, Jade and the others had bolted from their chairs and rushed out of the school over to the parking lot, toward Beck's car. As the car backed out of the lot and sped out of the school, Jade frantically prayed for Robbie, that he would be all right (she, of course, tried to be strong-although she felt her eyes well up with tears).<p>

"I can't believe it." Cat looked sad, tears in her eyes. "I hope Robbie will be okay..."

"I'm sure Robbie will pull through. Although he may not look it, he's a strong person." Andre said in an attempt at a reassuring tone. He, too, looked solemn. Beck and Tori nodded in agreement, the latter placing her head on Andre's shoulder, looking sad.

"Yeah, Robbie's quite a fighter." Beck said, glancing at Jade through the mirror.

After a mostly silent ride, apart from the occasional squeaks by the girls when Beck made too quick a turn and came close to repeating the incident that had befell Robbie, which happened a few times, the car pulled up at the hospital.

No sooner had the car rumbled to a stop did Jade, Cat, and Tori get out of the car and run toward the hospital's doors, Andre and Beck following.

In the waiting room, everyone rushed over to the reception desk, where the receptionist, after checking the list, told them that Robbie was still in surgery and couldn't have visitors at this moment.

The receptionist, however, looked sympathetic.

"Robbie should be getting out of surgery soon. When he does, a doctor should let us know of how he's doing." She said, smiling sympathetically. "His family will be notified, and although standard policy states that anyone who is his family and/or relatives would be allowed to visit him, I could make an exemption for all of you."

The group nodded, giving her their gratitude's when the receptionist stated they could wait in the waiting room. There was silence as the group sat down on the seats, glancing at the other and thinking of Robbie.

"So...how long have you liked Robbie, Jade?"

Jade turned to Tori and looked at her. "Getting curious much, Vega?"

Tori rolled her eyes. "I'm only asking." Jade remained silent as she thought about how long she had liked Robbie.

"To be honest, I don't know exactly when I began to fall for Robbie, Tori." Jade was a little shocked that she actually referred to her rival/frenemy by her first name.

Tori looked a bit surprised too, while Andre, Cat, and Beck looked on, waiting for her to reply.

"But what was for sure was that it had started while I was still dating Beck." Jade glanced at her ex-boyfriend. "I suppose it started out small, so I wasn't realize that until later. It was like I began noticing things about him that I normally wouldn't care about."

Tori raised an eyebrow. "Like the way you noticed him while he was in a towel?" She smirked, clearly referring to the Robarazzi incident.

Jade felt herself flush and glared at Tori, while fighting it down. Andre and Beck were chuckling a bit.

"Okay, perhaps I shouldn't have to say more about that!" She snapped.

"All right, all right. I'm sorry...continue, please." Tori said the last part in sarcasm.

Jade narrowed her eyes a bit at Tori before she opened her mouth to continue. "...yeah. Wait, why curious? Didn't you notice over the past week?" Jade inquired before she answered her own question. "Oh yeah...you were too busy with Andre, that's why!"

"That's true." Andre said. Tori glared at him.

Jade smirked.

"So...anyways, I began noticing stuff about him, bit by bit, and before I knew it, I felt something around him that I hadn't felt before. Like...like I became worried about him and stuff like that."

"Worried about him?" Cat piped up.

Jade nodded. "Yes, that's what I said, Cat."

"What's that supposed to mean!" Cat protested. Jade sighed while Beck chuckled.

"Jade wasn't trying to offend you. She was just stating what she said." He explained to Cat, whose face lit up in understanding. "Oh! I get it!"

Andre shook his head slowly while Tori chuckled.

"...anyways, as I was saying, I was feeling something toward him. I became worried for him for some reason, like that time in the RV when he drank the fish water and-"

"Oh, yeah. I remember that." Andre winced a bit at the memory.

"I learned a lesson that day on cleaning fish tanks." Beck spoke up.

"-and that time when he'd broke down when Tori sucked Rex into that generator and nearly killed him."

Tori glared at Jade. "Do you have to make me sound bad?"

"Yes, I do." Tori sighed.

The group continued to chat to pass the time, Jade doing most of the speaking, with the others piping in occasionally. All the time, Robbie was on their minds, especially Jade's.

"Hey, a doctor's coming over here." Cat pointed out. Jade looked over to see a fairly tall doctor walk over to the receptionist and speak to her. She felt...hope well up inside her, mentally praying that Robbie was ok.

When the receptionist looked over at them and gestured at them, Jade and the others got up and walked over.

"Robbie just got out of surgery, and is being moved to his room as we speak." The woman began. "His parents had been notified and should be on their way shortly after. Now..." She turned to the doctor who nodded.

Jade felt her heart soar a bit. So Robbie is okay...?

"Hello, let me introduce myself. My name is Dr. William Nimoy, and I want to say that we just finished operating on him, and that Robbie should be fine."

There was a collective sigh of relief among the group.

"However," Dr. Nimoy continued. "I must say that, considering the seriousness of the accident, Robbie was very lucky to survive. It was probably a good thing that someone called 911 on time, and that we were able to contain the damage before it got too...far out of hand. Although it took lot of effort on our part." He paused for a moment.

"Even so, given the injuries he'd sustained, I'm afraid Robbie has a long way to recover. His injuries were, to put it mildly, certainly serious-although I will spare you the details."

Jade felt her eyes begin to water a bit, although this time it was not out of fear and worry. It was out of relief and joy that Robbie was still okay...and recovering, although that was tempered by the fact her Robbie was injured, in a hospital room.

"That's good to know." Tori spoke up, while Cat nodded in agreement. Andre and Beck smiled.

"So, uh, when do we visit him?" Andre spoke up.

Dr. Nimoy smiled. "Soon enough...although Robbie will not regain consciousness for some time, though."

"Robbie's lucky he has friends like you all." The receptionist spoke up as she looked at the group, smiling. "Especially a girlfriend who cares for him." She said, looking at Jade.

Jade felt somewhat flattered. "Yeah, he is." She said.

Before he left, the doctor told them he would let them know when Robbie was situated in his room. While walking away, Jade's sworn that she heard Dr. Nimoy saying something like, "I didn't realize he was so popular."

Jade smiled to herself. Robbie was certainly popular with _her_.

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><p><strong>AN: Please pardon me if the dialogue sucks, or something. So, anyways, here's Chapter Eighteen, guys and gals! I think I did ok on this chapter, but blah.**

**Hope you liked.**


	19. You're a strong person

**A/N: Ta-da! GallaudetLurker is back with this third-to-last chapter, which is now here!**

***cue fanfare***

**Louder!**

***fanfare gets louder***

**That's better. Now, as you may well know, there are a couple of chapters left before this story ends.**

**What, you can't hear me?**

**Ok, stop!**

***fanfare stops***

**As I was saying...there are a couple of chapters left. I'm thinking the next chapter might have...mature elements in it, and that the epilogue _might_ be based on the upcoming episode where the gang visit a foreign country and end up in prison. What do you think?**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Nineteen: You're a strong person<strong>_

After what seemed like _forever_, Dr. Nimoy came back and informed the group that Robbie was now in his room and that they could see him now.

As she got up and went to his room, with Andre, Beck, and Cat following, Jade breathed in as she hoped Robbie wasn't too banged up or something.

As soon she walked through the door, Jade's heart shattered. She could hear the others' soft gasps. Dr. Nimoy, who stood nearby, remained silent, looking solemn.

Banged up wasn't even an appropriate word to describe Robbie's current state.

To say the _very_ least, Robbie looked...hurt _really_ bad.

He was all hooked up to various machines, as well an IV, that thronged his bed, his left arm and neck was in a cast, and he had bruises all over, especially his face. The heart monitor indicated that Robbie's heart was beating steadily, although it became a bit irregular at times.

As she looked at the sleeping Robbie, Jade felt tears well up in her eyes and, this time, she let them fall down her face, although she quickly wiped them away.

While Beck and Cat walked to Robbie's side, along with Andre, Jade walked to his other side with Tori, feeling a storm of emotions well up inside her. She could..._almost_ feel his pain.

Looking at Robbie's face, as much Jade's heart went out to her boyfriend, she felt anger course through her at the thought of that...that...bastard who decided to get drunk that night and endanger Robbie's life.

If she ever got her hands on him...she'd make him pay dearly for this transgression.

"Um, you can take a seat if you want." Dr. Nimoy spoke up, his voice breaking the silence that had permeated the room.

Turning to the doctor, Jade nodded and thanked him, while Beck Andre, and Tori went to get a few chairs that had been in the room; Cat, Tori, and Andre took a seat on both sides of Robbie's bed, while Beck opted to stand.

Tori, for one, had surprised Jade by offering her a chair, of which she took with a small smile on her face, sitting down. It seemed that whenever they weren't fighting, they could be good friends, _somehow_.

"Poor Robbie..." Cat said softly, looking sad. Beck placed a hand on her shoulder, while Andre and Tori nodded silently as they looked at Robbie.

Several moments passed in silence. Dr. Nimoy had left the room after informing them he had to go do something and that he would be back soon.

"I shouldn't have let him leave." Jade spoke out of the blue. Everyone looked at her, confused.

Glancing around, Jade mentally cursed herself for sounding so...fragile, but she took a breath before continuing.

"L-last night, when he dropped me off at my night after the Danceathon, I had asked if he wanted to come in..." Jade felt a small blush creep up her cheek; she turned her head toward the sleeping Robbie, idly wondering if he could still hear them talking.

"Like the gentleman he was, he declined the request. Then he drove off, and then...all this!" Jade felt her voice raise a bit before she calmed down.

"I should've been more..._proactive_, or something like that. I should've dragged him into the house, but no, I had to respect his decision and let him go. If I hadn't, then he...he shouldn't be in this room."

"Jade, you're making this sound like it's your fault, which it isn't." Beck spoke up.

Tori nodded. "It's not your fault, Jade."

Jade felt her eyes grow a bit wet once again. "I know...but still...it's almost surreal, you know? The Danceathon was yesterday, now...this. He didn't deserve to get hit by a car!"

Everyone looked at her sympathetically.

Just when Tori was about to say something when...

"Robbie!"

Everyone turned to see a distraught Mrs. Shapiro, who looked like she had cried all day as Robbie's father held her by the shoulder, a sad expression on his face.

"My baby...my baby..." Robbie's mother cried as tears began running down her face as she and her husband walked into the room.

Jade's heart went out for Robbie's mother. No mother deserved the agony of seeing her only son injured, on a hospital bed hooked to machines.

She felt tears running down her face, and wiped them away.

After a period of silence, punctuated by the sobs from Mrs. Shapiro and the whispered comforting words from Robbie's father, Jade and the others tried their best to comfort Robbie's parents.

They succeeded to an extent. Although the grave atmosphere pervaded the room, conversations took place among Jade, the others, and Robbie's parents over the next couple of hours, along with Dr. Nimoy who occasionally entered the room to give them updates and the like.

Then Robbie's parents had to leave, but Mr. Shapiro informed them that they would come back later.

"I can't thank you all enough for being with him. It means so much to us, and I'm sure Robbie would appreciate it. " Mrs. Shapiro said with a smile.

Jade, Tori, Cat, Beck, and Andre smiled and acknowledged this.

"Especially you." Robbie's mother looked at Jade. "I knew you looked like a nice girl, and I'm glad I was right. Robbie is lucky to have someone like you at his side."

Jade felt flattered, her cheek lighting up in a small blush.

"You don't have to-" Jade opened her mouth before Mrs. Shapiro beat her to it.

"Oh, but I do, and I mean it." She said with a smile. After Robbie's parents left, Jade thought about Mrs. Shapiro's words.

"She's right, you know." Andre spoke up.

Beck, Tori, and Cat nodded in agreement. "Robbie's quite lucky to have you to stick by him." Beck said.

Jade remained silent as she looked at Robbie before looking at the others and smiled.

She would always be there for him, through thick and thin, no matter what.

* * *

><p>As Dr. Nimoy had indicated, Robbie had a long way to go toward recovery.<p>

Days and then weeks passed since the incident, and Jade had been going to the hospital to visit him with such a frequency that the hospital staff (particularly the receptionist) began referring to her on a first name basis, and allowed her to remain in Robbie's room after visiting hours were over.

Thus Jade found herself sitting at Robbie's side, looking at his sleeping room.

Tori, Andre, Beck, Cat, and even Trina would go with her after school, but today they had other matters to contend to (Tori insisted that Jade keep them updated on anything, which Jade waved away with a roll of her eyes).

So she was alone with Robbie in his hospital room.

Jade sighed as she sadly looked at his bruised face, watching his heart beat steadily on the monitor. The lines zigzagged in a steady pattern.

She gingerly took hold of his uninjured hand.

"You're a strong person, Robbie." She said softly after several moments of silence, thinking about Dr. Nimoy's statement earlier that Robbie should be waking up anytime soon. "I'm glad you pulled through, that you're here with me-that you're well on the way to recovery. I don't know what I would've done otherwise...if you hadn't..."

She trailed off as she felt tears sting the corner of her eyes and heart wrench slightly at these..._saddening_ thoughts, but she quickly shook her head and took a breath.

As she looked around the room before setting her eyes back on Robbie, Jade thought back to that day, about how she had managed to hold down her emotions and hold herself together the whole time she had been in Robbie's room with the others. This charade had lasted right to the moment she and her friends had to leave because visiting hours were over, and that no sooner had she went home and reached the privacy of her room, her resolve crumbled and her suppressed emotions pouring out of her like a flood, culminating into sobs.

She remembered hating feeling..._vulnerable and weak_, but apparently Robbie had one way or another brought out this side of her.

"I'm glad they got the guy who hit you, though. Who knows what I would have done to him if I had my hands on him?" She continued, remembering Dr. Nimoy telling her that the drunk guy had been injured as well, and while recovering, had been brought to the attention of the police, where they would bring him under custody as soon he recovered.

There was a moment of silence before Jade felt something well up inside her. Standing up from her chair, she leaned over to carefully kiss him on the cheek.

"I have to go to the restroom. I'll see you soon when I get back." She said with a soft smile as she left the room.

No sooner had she left did Robbie at last begin to stir.

* * *

><p>Robbie Shapiro found himself to be in a world where he found he didn't know about. It was something of a void that he couldn't even comprehend; it resembled a sort of a dimension where he was floating in midair, his bright surrounding similar to clouds.<p>

It was strange...and yet _familiar_, like he had somehow heard of it before.

"Where am I?" Robbie wondered aloud to himself, his voice echoing over great distances. His voice wasn't the only thing he could hear; he heard faint, familiar voices emanate from somewhere faraway. He couldn't decipher who was speaking, though.

He received no response.

As he looked at the clouds, he began to wonder. 'How did I get here?' He was surprised when his thoughts were apparently translated into voice and echoed throughout the void.

'Am I in...Heaven or something?' He thought.

Immediately, his surrounding changed abruptly as the light became much brighter, nearly blinding him. At the same time, he got this sensation that he was freefalling through the cloud, plummeting to the ground below with great speed.

Feeling panic course through him, Robbie tried to call for help, only to find that no sound came out of his mouth. He continued to fall through the clouds.

"Help me!"

Robbie shot up, feeling his heart pounding in his chest, panic coursing through him. Panting, he discerned from his immediate vicinity that he was in sort of a room, but it looked different from anything he had seen in his life. The room was bathed in a heavenly light, its walls were bright white of a hue that he had never seen before, and he could hear a faint music from somewhere.

Looking down at himself, he found he was in a bed, wearing something of a robe. Like the room, the bed was tinted white, and the robe was colored white.

Before he could even begin to think, a voice spoke up that took him out of his reverie.

"You're wondering where you are, right?"

He whipped his head to see a young man sitting by the side of the bed. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, he had a goatee, and he was wearing robes. The most interesting thing was that he had wings. He was smiling in an assuring way, and his eyes were gentle.

"Um...uh.." Robbie blinked as he tried to muster a reply, his mind teeming with confusion.

The man smiled. "Now you're wondering who I am, and how I knew what you are thinking. Let me introduce myself, my name is Samuel, and I am an angel."

'Angel?' Robbie thought. Samuel nodded, as if he could read thoughts. "Yes, Robbie, an angel."

"Now, to answer your earlier question," Samuel continued, "You are not in Heaven..._yet_. Where you are, as of right now, is in a phase that is half-way between Heaven and Earth, a purgatory, so to say."

Robbie blinked. "P-purgatory? How did I end up here?" He asked, confusion going through his mind.

"Search your mind, and you will find the answer." Samuel answered, simply. Robbie raised his eyebrows as he began to think.

Then, as he thought deeper, it slowly and steadily came back to him.

_The Danceathon...the dancing...Jade...dropping her off at her house...their kissing...driving...driving...flashing headlights..._

Then realization hit him like a speeding car.

"I was hit by a car!" Robbie exclaimed. Samuel nodded.

"Correct, you are. While driving through the intersection, another car slammed into your side. The guy who was driving the car was drunk." Samuel explained. "That was a _frightfully_ stupid decision, in my humble opinion, to drink and drive at the same time."

Robbie nodded in silence as he formulated his next words.

"So...um...why am I here? I mean, why didn't I go straight to Heaven?"

Samuel smiled. "Good question. You see, you would have gone straight there, yes, but seeing as God has other plans for you on Earth, He chose to give you a chance to live."

"Really? If I'm alive-"

"Not exactly alive, but not exactly dead either." Samuel reminded.

Robbie nodded before continuing, "If I'm supposedly alive, then where..." He trailed off as he realized where he was probably in.

"I'm in the hospital, aren't I?" Samuel chuckled.

"You have good hindsight, young man. So, yes, you are in the hospital, where the doctors had just finished operating on you. You're resting in the hospital room right now. And..." Samuel's smile grew wider. "...you're not alone there."

Robbie raised his eyebrows as Samuel gestured at the wall opposite him. An image appeared and depicted-

"Jade." Robbie breathed out as he saw his girlfriend sitting at his side of the bed. He also saw himself; he was indeed banged up.

Samuel chuckled. "Yes, you're lucky you have a wonderful girlfriend there. She had been visiting you every day since the incident. And the same goes for your parents and friends."

Robbie continued to watch the image. Jade appeared to be speaking as she held his hand, and interestingly, he could hear her loud and clear.

_"You're a strong person, Robbie. I'm glad you pulled through, that you're here with me-that you're well on the way to recovery. I don't know what I would've done otherwise...if you hadn't..."_

Robbie felt his heart go out to Jade. He looked at Samuel who looked back.

_"I'm glad they got the guy who hit you, though. Who knows what I would have done to him if I had my hands on him?"_ Jade continued.

Robbie chuckled at that. That was so typical of Jade. She was a strong young woman...

"Yes, she is." Samuel spoke up, smiling.

Robbie blinked. "Um...no offense, but uh, this mind reading thing is sort of beginning to..._unnerve_ me."

The angel laughed. "You don't have to worry about offending me, or anything. God isn't easily offended, he had heard it all, so you can say that this freaked you out." He smiled.

Robbie smiled back before a thought appeared in his head.

"Samuel...you said God chose to give me a chance to live. Do that mean I can go back to life?"

Samuel remained silent for a moment before nodding. "Well...you have two choices, actually. You can choose to come back to life, alas wake up from your slumber, or you can choose to...move on. It's up to you."

"Move on?"

Samuel nodded as he gestured at a door on the side of the room.

"If you choose to come back to life...you will wake up. If you choose to move on, you will go through that door with me. Beyond that is eternity. Once again, it's up to you."

Robbie remained silent as he thought about these choices. If he chose to go through the door...he would never wake up, but would spend eternity with God and his angels. But that would mean he would never be reunited with Jade again, not for a long time.

But then, if he chose to wake up now, he would be with Jade and his friends, and...he would carry out the purpose God had given him in life.

Looking at the image, Robbie saw Jade lean over to kiss him on the cheek and say that she had to go to the restroom and that she'll be back.

It was at that moment Robbie made up his mind.

"Samuel, I want to come back."

The angel smiled. "You sure?" Robbie nodded.

At that point, the room considerably became brighter and began to oscillate as it began to fade out.

Before he knew it, Robbie was opening his eyes. Light began to pervade his eyes and he blinked a few times before the view of the room came steadily into focus.

He was on his bed in his hospital. Just like he had saw, he was indeed in a neck brace and his left arm were ensconced in a cast, and he saw that he was all hooked up to machines that were by his side.

Before he could mull over what had recently happened, Robbie heard footsteps. He saw the door open, and his heart leapt when he saw Jade walk through it, in all her beauty.

She looked up at him and froze.

"R-Robbie...?"

He smiled, or tried to muster up a smile.

"Hi Jade."

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><p><strong>AN: Well, here it is. I decided to end it on a cliffhanger thingy because, well, I wanted to and I can be evil at times. *smirks like Jade***

**So, hope you liked this chapter. I'll try to make the next one more...interesting. Oh, and one more thing...I hope I didn't offend you, or anything. I'm a Christian myself, and I don't want to ruffle anyone's feathers or anything like that. If I did, I apologize, I meant no offense.**

**As usual, if you want to see the se-uh, I mean, the next chapter, clicky on that review button below! Oh, and I want 100 reviews too.**

**...what? You refuse?**

**Fine, 95 reviews then. Gosh you guys drive a hard bargain, but I love you all the same.**


	20. The Climax

**A/N: Whoo, Chapter 20 is here! This is one of the longest chapters I've had to write for this story, and for good reason, heh.**

**Originally, I was going to post this chapter later, as to keep you on your toes with anticipation, but then I thought to myself, 'why not let them enjoy the chapter now'? Lol. To quote a certain someone: I'm awesome.**

**Without further ado, enjoy!**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter Twenty: The Climax<strong>_

"Ah, it feels so good to be home once again." Robbie said.

Jade rolled her eyes before she giggled a bit. "Of course it should, dork. You've been in that hospital for too long."

Robbie smirked. "Aw, you must have missed me." Jade slapped him a bit hard on the shoulder.

"Ow! I'm still injured, y'know!" He whined. Jade smirked evilly.

"Oh yeah, if by 'injured' means you're resting in your room, and I'm gracing you with my generous presence, then yeah, you're very much injured." Jade remarked a bit sarcastically.

"That hurt, Jade, that hurt."

They were in Robbie's bedroom, on his bed. Jade was laying by Robbie's side, her head on his shoulder and her arm across his chest, while Robbie's arm was around his girlfriend.

And no, they were fully-clothed, mind you.

It had taken a few months before Robbie had less or more healed from his injuries and been released from the hospital. It was in the beginning of the summer, though, and Robbie had missed the last leg (no pun intended) of last semester-although he was grateful that his teachers, especially Sikowitz, let him off.

As he held Jade in his arm, Robbie thought about the past several months, about how his arm and legs had, miraculously, healed despite the relatively serious injuries they had sustained in the accident. Although he was able to walk fairly fine, he still had to walk with assistance of a crutch because he had a limp. (And not to mention, the assistance he received from his girlfriend).

Although it would have taken far longer for him to recover due to the serious nature of the accident, as well his various ailments, Robbie considered it God's grace that he was able to recover fairly quickly. More than once he mentally thanked God for this.

Well, that and Jade too. Although not many people would have expected it, due to her rough and dark exterior, Jade was a wonderful person, possibly the greatest girlfriend he ever had (cheesy, he knew, but it was true). She was constantly by his side, helping taking care of him and all that.

He felt a smile grace his face as his mind went on a flashback to that day, when he had woken up.

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><p><em><strong>FLASHBACK<strong>_

After Jade had to restrain herself (with considerable difficulty) from pouncing upon Robbie and smothering him, although she did rush over to his side and peppered him with questions, Dr. Nimoy had rushed into the room.

"Robbie! I see you're awake." The doctor said with a smile as he did a check on Robbie's vital stats and looking at the various monitors, and pressing the button that fed morphine into Robbie's arm. "I'm thankful the surgeons did their jobs. How are you feeling?"

Robbie smiled weakly. "I'm doing ok so far...although I probably don't look okay." As he looked at the doctor, he got this feeling that he somehow looked..._familiar_, like someone else...he couldn't put his mind to it, though.

The doctor nodded sympathetically as he looked between Jade and Robbie. "Well, I'm going to notify your parents now. And your friends too, if you want."

If he could nod, he would've done that, Robbie thanked the doctor.

After Dr. Nimoy left the room, Robbie turned (well, more like shifted his eyes since his neck was in a brace) to Jade and smiled at her, she smiling back.

"I'm glad you're ok." Jade whispered, looking like she wanted to tear up. Robbie noticed this.

"Me too. It's not every day that you get hit by a car and get okay in the end." He tried to joke, only to elicit a glare from Jade.

"Robbie." She said in a slightly warning tone, narrowing her eyes slightly.

Robbie sighed. "All right, I think that was a bad joke."

"You think?" He chuckled a bit from Jade's sarcastic retort.

"But at least I'm awake now, so that's something."

Jade scooted a bit closer to him, pulling her chair closer to the bed, grasping his right hand and intertwining her fingers with his. "And I'm glad for that, that you're awake and recovering. It would've gone the other way-you should have-" She was on the verge of tearing up.

"Jade." Robbie squeezed Jade's hand in a reassuring way. "Look at me, I'm okay-well, as okay as I can be right now-and awake. Soon, I'm gonna be up and kicking around."

This brought a small grin on Jade's face. "In this condition?" She teased lightly, raising an eyebrow.

"Now that's the famous Jade grin that I know and love." Robbie grinned. Despite herself, Jade giggled and felt herself begin to blush a bit.

They began to chat to pass the time. Jade was about to lean over to peck him on the lips when-

"My baby!"

They sprang apart, both of them blushing, as Robbie's mother ran into the room to Robbie's side and asking him frenzied questions. Mr. Shapiro, Tori, Cat, Beck, and Andre followed, with Dr. Nimoy behind them.

"Mom, I'm doing fine, so don't worr-" Robbie tried to reassure his mother, who was beginning to tear up.

"But you definitely don't look okay!" Robbie sighed as his father walked to his wife's side.

"Robbie's doing ok, he's only going to get better, he has my genes after all." Mr. Shapiro hit his chest as he smiled at Robbie, which elicited several chuckles from Robbie's friends as well an eye roll from Mrs. Shapiro.

"Hey, where's Mamaw and Grandpa?" Robbie asked.

"They're on their way here now." His mother answered.

At this point of time, Tori, Beck, and Cat made their way to Robbie's bedside-well, they walked over there while Cat bopped over there, looking like she wanted to envelop Robbie in a bone-crushing hug but couldn't do that.

"I'm glad you're okay, Robbie!" Cat exclaimed.

"We all are." Jade drawled, while Tori chuckled and greeted Robbie.

"Glad to see you, bro. I knew you would pull though." Andre smiled as Beck nodded in agreement.

This tender moment, however, was disrupted when Mamaw burst into the room.

_**FLASHBACK END**_

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><p>Robbie let out a chuckle as he recalled that memory, especially about Mamaw's lingering disapproval of Cat (and not to mention, her suspicion that Cat was the cause of his injuries), even although it was fairly obvious he wasn't dating the redhead.<p>

"What are you chuckling about?" Robbie looked down to see his girlfriend looking up at him with a curious expression on her face.

"Oh, just thinking about the day that I woke up, about my family and relatives arriving and all that stuff."

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Especially after your Mamaw arrived."

"I was thinking exactly the same thing." Robbie smirked. "I especially remember that gesture Dr. Nimoy did when I left the hospital."

As he was leaving the hospital, with Jade, his friends, and family at his side, Robbie noticed Dr. Nimoy had raised his hand, parted his fingers between the middle and ring fingers, extended his thumb, and smiled.

"Live long and prosper." He had said.

This somehow had struck Robbie as realization went through him, he had seen that before.

"Wait, I just remembered something." Jade looked like realization hit her. "Did you take the pain medications today?" Robbie sighed.

"Um...why? I'm not really in pain anymore, y'know."

Jade fixed Robbie with a glare. Robbie gulped a bit.

"The doctor said you have to continue taking them until he says otherwise. And I recall clearly he didn't say you could stop taking them yet."

"Um...I did take them?" Robbie's statement came out more like a question, testifying the fact he sucked at lying.

Jade smirked evilly at this.

"Robbie, look me right in the eye and tell me you took the medicine."

Robbie swallowed as he looked into Jade's eyes, but for some reason found it difficult to maintain. "Augh!" He looked away and shut his eyes.

"Knew it." Jade said triumphantly. "Now, stay here you bad boy while I go get your medication."

Robbie sighed. However, he felt his throat constrict as Jade got over him, smirking down at him, as she got off the bed and went over to his desk, her hips swaying a bit.

He felt himself get a bit hard.

A moment or two passed as Jade opened one of his desk drawers and searched through it. He didn't notice her pick up a certain folded paper, open it, and read it.

"What's this?" He heard Jade call out.

Turning his head to his side, Robbie felt his heart nearly stop as he felt a sense of panic go through him. Jade was holding the folded paper in her hands, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Um...uh...you see..." Robbie tried to say something but ended up stuttering a bit.

The corner of Jade's lips curved up. "'Signs a girl likes you'?" She stated, reading the title before looking at Robbie.

"Oh my, you've been a naughty boy, plotting all ways to snatch girls, including poor little me. What will we do with you?"

Gaining the power of speech, Robbie opened his mouth. "Well...you see...um how do I put it this way...I printed it out a few months ago...before we dated so, y'know, I could figure out if Trina and Cat liked me and-"

Robbie was cut off by Jade's finger against his lips.

"Shh...no excuses." Jade smirked as she crumpled the paper up and tossed it somewhere in the room before leaning over him, and giving him plenty of view of her _ample_ cleavage.

"You hurt me, Robbie." She said in a mocked pained tone, although one look into her eyes indicated that Jade wasn't actually offended. "Stringing me like that along...you will have to be punished."

Robbie tried to protest, only to be silenced by the chaste kiss Jade gave him that took away his breath. Pulling away, Jade sidled over to the door and closed it, locking it.

When Jade turned around, Robbie felt himself grow harder at the sultry expression on her face.

Somehow he just..._knew_ what she was planning to do to him as per his 'punishment'. And he had this feeling he was going to..._like_ it.

No matter the fact that what they were going to do was a sin.

As soon she reached the bed, Jade got up on it, and put herself on top of Robbie so that she was straddling him. She smiled to herself as she felt his..._hardness_ poke her.

Wanting to tease him a bit, she rubbed his hardness a bit with her ass, eliciting a soft moan from Robbie. Her smile growing wide, Jade put her hands on either side of Robbie's head on the pillow as she leaned closer so that their noses were nearly touching.

"Do you know what your punishment will be, Robbie?" She whispered.

No sooner had Robbie nodded his head numbly did Jade slam her lips against his in a ferocious kiss that all but blew his mind.

Robbie responded back as fiercely as he felt Jade's tongue probe his lips, begging for entry. Shortly, the 'Battle of the Tongues' were on as both sides fought hard for dominance.

At this point, Robbie's hands were roaming all over her. As soon they reached her chest, Robbie gasped in surprise and broke the kiss.

"Y-you're not wearing a bra?"

Jade smirked. "...You just found that out? How sad." They then resumed kissing as Robbie's hands went to work on her breasts, kneading them with his skillful hands and pinching her aroused nipples through the fabric, making her moan in his mouth.

When he reached the hem of her tank top, Jade broke the kiss this time, grabbing his hands and taking them away. "Uh uh, I decide the shots, Casanova."

Robbie groaned with disappointment, although that was replaced by pleasure as Jade trailed kisses down his neck as her hands went all over his chest, lightly trailing them with her nails that sent pleasure chills throughout him. She then began pulling his shirt off.

"Hey...hey, no fair." Robbie called out, his voice laden with pleasure as Jade tossed Robbie's shirt aside. Jade then had a thought before sitting up and taking her top off.

Robbie felt like his eyes could pop right out of their sockets as he stared at Jade's large, perky C cup breasts, her nipples erect.

Just when he was about to put his hands back on her breasts, Jade slapped them away. "Uh-huh, no touching baby." She wagged her finger at him before leaning down and bruising his lips.

Robbie whimpered in pleasure as Jade began to trail her lips downwards once again. He inhaled in a sharp breath as he felt her hot mouth engulf his nipple and suck on it, even biting it hard.

He felt his chest heaving as she proceeded to do the same to his another nipple before trailing further southwards, her tongue teasing his navel along the way. Looking up, she smirked evilly as she began fumbling around with his belt.

"Jade..." Robbie breathed out, feeling anticipation course through his veins.

"Shh..." She cooed as she began unzipping his jeans. As soon the zipper was down, Jade purred.

"Oh you've gone commando...I love it." She grinned as she admired the erect thing in front of her, wrapping it in her hands, and stroking it slightly, drawing a grunt of pleasure out of Robbie. She was practically salivating.

"It's so _big_, Robbie...I don't know if I'll be able to fit it in my mouth. But I can try."

Robbie shut his eyes as he felt his manhood get covered by Jade's wet mouth. As her tongue circled around his shaft, Robbie reached over and grabbed ahold of Jade's hair.

"Jade...Jade...oh..." He moaned as she began to go faster, sucking harder. The fact she was playing with his balls didn't help matters either. After several long moments, he felt his balls tighten up, a sure indication that he was close to coming.

"Jade..unh...Jade..._I'm coming_..._!_"

She only quickened the pace. Robbie felt his eyes roll back into his head as Jade performed her magic.

Then Robbie was overcome with a large wave of pleasure as he emptied himself into Jade's mouth. Somehow, she managed to take all this in, missing not a single drop as she swallowed.

"Delicious." She said with a satisfied smirk, delighting in the dazed expression on Robbie's face.

What Robbie did next surprised her.

Leaning over, Robbie grabbed Jade's face and pulled her to him before slamming his lips on hers, which she returned immediately. He could taste...himself in her mouth, and that turned him on even more. He then turned them around so that he was on top.

Breaking the kiss, Robbie smirked down at her. "The tables have turned." He then resumed kissing her.

As he did so, his hands found their way to Jade's breasts once again, pinching and pressing her engorged areolas and making her arch her back slightly as he felt his mouth vibrate with her moans.

Continuing his finger work, Robbie's lips left her lips and traveled southwards toward her chest. He sucked on her creamy neck once again, doing it with such intensity that Jade not only moaned, but knew she would have to cover up her neck for a while. If she had thought he would proceed to her breasts, she was wrong as he made his way to her pierced navel.

Jade whimpered at the lack of attention to her aroused breasts.

Robbie then stood up and removed the jeans that were still around his ankle, now completely naked, still rock hard. He then proceeded to unzip Jade's shorts and yanked it off with a might he didn't know he had.

What he saw in front of him made him smirk.

"Pink panties, Jade? My, I didn't expect that."

Without giving her a chance to reply, Robbie grabbed Jade's sides and pulled her to the edge of the bed. He then pried her legs apart and placed his face close to her center, inhaling the murky aroma and smiling at her obvious arousal.

Jade was breathing hard at this point, her nipples still erect.

"Robbie..." She breathed out but was unable to continue because of what Robbie did next.

He began to lick her, tasting her through the fabric of her panties, relishing in her taste. Jade felt a jolt of pleasure shoot through her.

Smiling at the sounds of pleasure emanating from Jade, as well the increased wetness, Robbie proceed to lick her once again, but this time slower.

_Oh yeah, he could be evil at times._

Jade seemed to think the same time as she intertwined her hands through his hair and balled it tightly.

Feeling the tangy and murky taste on his tongue, Robbie pulled her panties to the side to reveal her womanhood, glistening in its glory.

As much he wanted to plunge his mouth into her right there and then, Robbie decided to tease her further: he gently blew into it, making her gasp loudly in pleasure. The grip in her curls tightened painfully.

"Robbie...you're so...evil..." Jade managed to say out. Robbie's response was to blow further into her, of which she felt herself throb with need...the need for him to divulge into her.

Then came the plunge: having teased Jade enough, Robbie proceeded to open his mouth and let his wet tongue snake out into her dripping wet pussy.

Jade felt herself convulse with pleasure as she took in sharp breaths, feeling like she was seeing stars while she flung her head back, her hair flying about.

She wanted to wrap her legs around Robbie's head, but they were kept apart by his surprisingly strong hands, adding further to the pleasure-and torment.

Robbie's tongue continued to explore her further, focusing on her clit-which sent shockwaves of pleasures through her-and lapping up her juices. But the most maddening thing he did next was to probe his tongue inside her but then retract it; he then did it over and over again.

To say it drove Jade over the edge wasn't far from the truth. She was simply and utterly blown away. Never had she felt so much pleasure before in her life.

Then she felt it coming, feeling like she was twisting and churning in her lower area. She knew she was coming, that she was about to have an...

"R-Robbie...I'm...ohh...I'm-"

That feeling became stronger and stronger, the sensation feeling like an eruption was steadily building up inside her, yearning for a release.

Then it was unleashed with a force of a tsunami as her juices flowed out into Robbie's face and mouth with such an intensity that she felt like her breath was taken away, this intense feeling overcoming her in an orgasmic wave.

Robbie's face was soaked with her juices, but he continued lapping up her juices that flowed from her, continuing until she was licked clean.

He then raised himself from her lower area and looked at her, smiling at the sight of Jade looking so...dazed. And so beautiful.

Jade seemed to come to life as her eyes blazed with such an intensity and desire that surprised Robbie. She reached over and grabbed his face, drawing him into a bone-searing kiss that all but blew his mind away.

And that wasn't all. After several moments, she broke the kiss to lick her own juices off Robbie's face, something that turned the both of them on even more, if that was even possible at this time.

"I-I can see why you love it..." She said with a smile as she smacked her lips, the lust dancing in her eyes. The expression on her face then hardened as she looked right into his eyes.

"Take me now." She commanded in a tone that Robbie had never heard her use before. "I need you...I want you inside me...take me _now_!"

Robbie readily obliged, all but tearing her panties off before positioning himself in front of her womanhood. Jade's legs were spread apart, eagerly awaiting the entry of his little best friend.

He smiled as he began to push in, a warm feeling engulfing his shaft as it slowly entered her pussy. Jade let out a soft gasp as she closed her eyes.

However, Robbie had to have a thought pop in his mind at that time. Suppressing a grin, Robbie began to withdraw his shaft before it got deep inside her. Jade's eyes sprang open, full of questions.

Robbie then placed his shaft back in, letting the head get inside before pulling it back out, doing it a few times. Jade's eyes widened in realization before a murderous expression appeared on her face.

"You better not do that again..." She hissed as she narrowed her eyes, desire and lust clearly taking her over. At this, her legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him inward.

Robbie smiled apologetically as her as his shaft entered her increasingly tight and heated pussy. However, he was able to get half-way inside before something blocked his way. He was confused for but a bit before his eyes widened in realization.

Jade West was a _virgin_.

Before he could think it any further, he felt Jade's legs tighten slightly and she placed her hands on his shoulders. She nodded, silently urging him to continue, to break down her special barrier and claim her as his.

With that, Robbie readied himself for a moment before he thrust his pelvis forward with such a speed and strength that he broke through her hymen. Jade gasped in pain as tears began to swell at the corner of her eyes.

Seeing this, Robbie leaned over to kiss her, wiping her tears, as he continued his thrusts.

"Are you ok?" He whispered. The response he received was a kiss from Jade, which was enough.

He felt his shaft go deeper inside her until he could feel his balls reach her. Pulling back slightly, he rammed into her again at a pace that would be repeated again. Jade began to let out moans of pleasure that, if anything else, turned him on even more and propelled him forward.

Her nails were digging into his back as Robbie continued his thrusts at an increasing pace. The bed began to shake from their lovemaking. Robbie was dimly thankful his parents were at work.

"Oh Robbie...oh Robbie!" Jade whispered his name out as he continued to bang her, her voice thick with ecstasy and desire. Her legs pulled him inward while she thrust her pelvis to meet his thrusts, increasing the pleasure that coursed through their bodies.

Before they knew it, they felt it coming. Robbie for one thing felt the familiar tightening inside his balls that indicated the semen were primed and well on their way; Jade felt that now-familiar twisting and churning accompanied with a feeling of buildup.

A glance at each other's eyes showed that they both knew they were coming.

Her nails dug deeper into his skin, becoming painful but yet more pleasurable, as Robbie maintained his pace, not intending to slacken. His balls banged against her backside.

_"Robbie!"_

_"Jade!"_

They screamed their respective names at the same time as they came to a climax. A strong wave of pleasure engulfed them as Robbie unleashed a flood of his special seeds into her womb as Jade was floored by the orgasmic pleasure that convulsed through her.

Feeling exhausted, Robbie slumped down on Jade as she wrapped her arms around his neck, playing with his hair, her legs still wrapped around his waist. Both had satisfied smiles on their faces.

Robbie pulled himself up so he was level with Jade, looking into his eyes.

"That was some punishment." He said, a tinge of pleasure still in his tone.

Jade smirked. "Glad to know you liked it-although you quickly took the initiative from me." She pouted a bit.

Robbie chuckled as he moved to pull his now limp member out of her-only to find himself locked in place as Jade's legs was still wrapped around him.

"Jade."

"What?" She had an innocent expression on her face, although her eyes indicated otherwise.

He raised an eyebrow as he indicated to her legs. Jade seemed to think about it for a moment before she shook her head, smirking.

'Of course.' Robbie thought, amused. He had an idea, though.

Slipping his hands under her ass, Robbie hauled Jade off the bed before he turned around, and lay on his back on the bed, Jade now on top of him, straddling him.

"My, I didn't know you wanted Round 2, but let me warn you...I don't think I could take another orgasm at this time." She smirked.

"No worries, I'm pretty much burned myself." Robbie said as he played with Jade's hair. "...although we can have Round 2 in the near-future."

As she leaned in to kiss Robbie, Jade thought about how..._amazing_ their first experience was. She decided that all these people who said that the first time would be awkward and terrible were officially idiots.

Robbie was thinking pretty much the same thing. In the past, Robbie would never have thought, much less suspected, that he would ever lose his virginity to anyone, and to Jade West out of all. His first experience was...amazing, to say the least.

If anyone had approached him a year or two before and told him that he would date Jade West, and lose his virginity to her, he would've laughed at such an proposition. Well, more like Rex, but you get the point.

The need for oxygen overtaking them, Robbie and Jade broke apart and looked at each other, smiling. Robbie then moved to take the bed's (soiled) covers and pulled it over his and Jade, adjusting his position so that he was spooning Jade from behind.

They had contented smiles on their faces.

Who knew that a paper titled 'Signs a Girl Likes You' was the catalyst to all this?

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><p><strong>AN: Man, that was, like, the first time I had to write a sex scene, lol. Hope you liked it.**

**Oh, and here's the disclaimer: In no way am I responsible for any hardness or arousal or mess that might ensue while reading this chapter, lol. Oh, and I don't own Victorious too.**

**This is the last chapter of this story. Next up is the epilogue. I would've written more, but then I saw the word count and went 'Egad! GallaudetLurker, you've done it again!' lol**

**...gee, I surely have a dirty mind, don't I?**


	21. The Epilogue

**A/N: Well, this is it. Here is the epilogue of 'Do She Like Me?', based on the episode, 'Locked Up', which premiered a few days ago. I must warn you, though, there are spoiler alerts in his chapter. If you haven't seen the new episode, I _strongly_ suggest you watch it first before reading this. It was quite great, I really liked it (even if the ending was somewhat...abrupt).**

**And looking back to the time I first published this chapter, I was way off in my prediction, lol.**

**I must say that I'm feeling a bit sad because this story is at an end, but I must also say I'm glad I was able to write such a story for so long, thanks to your invaluable input from you guys. I enjoyed writing it.**

**Shout outs will be on the bottom of the chapter.**

**With all these out of the way, enjoy this chapter.**

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><p><em><strong>The Epilogue<strong>_

"Way to go, Vega. That's some vacation you planned." Jade grumbled for the millionth time as she crossed her arms.

She was dressed in an orange prison suit.

Prison suit?

Yes, she was in prison...along with Robbie, Tori, Cat, Beck, Andre, and Trina. And not in a normal prison, either: they were in a prison located half-way across the world from where they lived, in a foreign country, a supposedly-tropical paradise that was Yerba. They had been there for some time now, and were currently standing around in the prison courtyard.

And to be more precise, a gender-segregated one: the female prisoners were separated from the male ones by a chain-link fence. For some reason, there was one male prisoner in the female section: Robbie, Jade's boyfriend. Apparently, the Yerbanian prison guards, for some reason, regarded Robbie as a girl - despite the obvious fact he wasn't - and placed him in there. Jade, Robbie, Tori, Cat, and Trina were in the female section, while Beck and Andre were placed in the male section on the other side of the fence.

Anyways, back to the topic. Jade and her friends were in prison, a foreign one.

And it was all thanks to Tori, whose decision to kick her feet during the song, **I Want You Back**, had instead sent one of her heels flying across the room and hitting the Yerbanian Chancellor in the eye. The enraged chancellor, now essentially blind because he had been wearing an eye patch when the heel hit his other eye, had condemned Tori to four years in Yerbanian prison.

Then Robbie had to accidentally drop a clock into the Chancellor's octopus tank, electrocuting the creature. Then the same punishment that was meted out to Tori was applied to the rest.

However, the last part wasn't what had Jade so pissed off...well, not as pissed off as the fact that it was Vega who had landed this, literally, in this predicament. Jade definitely wasn't looking forward to spending four years in a foreign prison, surrounded by strange, creepy prison inmates.

And it was all thanks to Vega.

"I didn't mean to! It was an accident!" Tori protested as she threw her arms up.

"Yeah, this entire vacation was an accident!" Jade spat back.

Robbie placed a hand on Jade's shoulder, which immediately calmed her down. "Girls, we'll figure out something. I'm sure we can't stay here for long."

"Yeah, I'm sure that octopus couldn't stay there for long." Jade said sarcastically. Robbie sighed.

"I'm sure Sikowitz's doing something to try to get us out of here." Beck spoke up from the other side of the fence.

"I can only hope so, I mean, I don't really want to spend any more time here, with all these..._creepy_ dudes in here." Andre said in a scared voice as he gestured at some of the prisoners here.

Robbie had noticed that during their stay in prison so far, Andre had been acting jumpy, like he was walking on glass shards. Probably because he was afraid of the prisoners, no matter how much he tried to hide it.

Unfortunately, one of the prisoners heard Andre's comment, and turned around to face Andre, an offended expression on his face. He was a tough-looking guy, with a shaved head and bulging biceps, accompanied with a group of prisoners.

"Hey!" He yelled.

Andre gulped as he backed into the gate, clearly looking terrified. "Ahh! We're going to die in here!"

Beck raised his eyebrows at him. "Don't act scared." He whispered.

"I'm not acting!" Andre said.

"Who ya callin' creepy?" The prisoner said in a threatening tone, albeit in an Eurban accent, a scowl on his face. Andre gulped while Beck looked cool as usual.

"I-I didn't say that! I m-mean, I wasn't talking about-"

The prisoner took a step forward. "Yes, you said it. I heard you clearly." He pointed a threatening finger at Andre.

"Now, let's not-", Beck began to speak up.

"I wasn't speaking to you!" The prisoner snapped, causing Beck to put his hands in front of him.

Sighing, Tori rolled her eyes and strode over to the fence, standing near Andre and placing her hands on the fence. Pasting on a polite smile, Tori began.

"Hi. Look there, you don't have to threaten my boyfriend - who I prefer to be intact in one place - but-"

"He's your boyfriend?" The prisoner interrupted, looking surprised. Tori blinked before she nodded.

"Uh, yeah." Tori raised her eyebrows.

There was a moment of silence as the prisoners nodded in amazement that the beautiful young woman, the one who had stabbed the chancellor in the eye, was the girlfriend of the terrified guy.

"Hey! How do you make your hair so..._fluffy_?" Another prisoner in the group spoke up. Andre, Beck, and Tori looked at him with confused looks on their faces for a moment before another prisoner yelled for them to answer.

"Um, tell him, tell him how you got your hair fluffy." Andre whispered to Beck, his voice will panicked. Beck sighed.

"Well...it all starts with a quality shampoo and conditioner."

The prisoners nodded once again, with awe. "Conditioner." One of them said as he got out a note and jotted something on it.

Tori stared at the prisoners with a deadpan expression on her face. "Ok, I'm gonna go, guys. Have fun." She walked off, leaving Andre and Beck to fend for themselves once again. Luckily, the prisoners had forgotten all about Andre's 'insult' as they gushed about "American hair care."

In the distance, Robbie chuckled a little as he saw Tori walk toward Trina and Cat a short distance away - and Andre and Beck inch away from the prisoners.

"I guess Andre and Beck got off light." Robbie whispered to Jade, who rolled her eyes.

"They're lucky." She spoke up. "Which is a pity, since I actually wanted to see a fight." She smirked.

Robbie rolled his eyes. "Of course you did. But still...Andre's lucky to have Tori. Like I'm lucky to have you."

"Getting cheesy, aren't we?" Jade smirked, even though there was a blush on her face. She stepped closer to Robbie and wrapped her arms around his body, and he hugged her closer.

Smiling at his girlfriend, and giving her a kiss, Robbie thought back to how this started (the fateful trip).

* * *

><p><em><strong>FLASHBACK<strong>_

"Say that again?" Andre looked confused as he looked at his girlfriend.

He was sitting on the island in the middle of Tori's kitchen. Tori was standing near him, holding a glass of iced tea in her hand.

"I don't know. All I heard was an annoying sound." Jade sneered. She was standing next to Robbie, Beck and Cat near them. Tori glared at her before turning to Andre.

"As I was saying, I called his brother as soon as I got home and its true. they'll pay for our plane fares, our hotel rooms, our food. And all we have to do is one performance a night." Tori explained, referring to the fact that Festus, the guy who operates the Grub Truck at school, had suggested that she and her friends travel to his home country of Yerba, a "very exotic island" similiar to Hawaii, and told her about a brother who lived there who would make their trip free.

In addition, Festus had given Tori an outrageous long phone number that had taken Tori some time, and few errors, to dial.

"That sounds so fun." Cat spoke up with a grin. "I heard it's a beautiful place, like this place with the pretty tower thingy that people say you find romance there!" Tori and Jade stared weirdly at her, while Beck smiled at his redheaded girlfriend's antics.

Jade snorted. "Yeah, she's gonna get lost there if we go," She smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean!"

Robbie along with Beck chuckled a little at this.

"So, this island, uh..." Andre trailed off, forgetting the country's name.

"Yerba." Tori supplied.

"Yerba, its a cool place?" Andre inquired.

Tori grinned and nodded. "Yeah, Festus said it's kind of like Hawaii."

"Yeah, it declared independence a few years ago, so its a relatively new country. But yeah, it's like Hawaii, all beautiful and exotic." Robbie found himself speaking out, having learned about this country in his History class (a class that he excelled in). Jade turned to him and smirked. "Nerd." She teased.

Robbie turned to her and smirked back. "At least I was a good nerd in bed." He retorted, delighting in the blush that appeared on Jade's face.

"Um...TMI!" Tori coughed. She and Andre looked grossed out, while Beck shook his head. Cat looked confused as she tilted her head to the side, her finger on her chin.

"Oh!" Tori looked like she just remembered something as she grabbed her laptop from the kitchen counter. "I went to the official Yerba website, and look." She said as she brought over the laptop to show them the screen.

Andre, Beck, Cat, Robbie, and Jade huddled closer to see what was on the screen. Robbie, for one thing, enjoyed Jade's hair scent as she placed her chin on his shoulder.

As they looked at the pictures, the groups were simply..._blown away_, even Jade. They saw pictures of amazing scenarios, natural features, luxurious hotels with sparkling swimming pools, and various aspects.

"Ohh, look at that." Andre breathed out as he pointed at one of the pictures. "Oh, white sand beach." He said the last part a bit dreamily.

"Computer." Robbie said in the same dreamy tone, referring to Tori's new Pear laptop. Tori and Beck looked at him while Jade nudged him in the ribs.

"So...if your parents say its cool, do you guys wanna do it?" Tori inquired, a smile on her face.

There was a flurry of "Sure", "Absolutely" and "Awesome" from the group.

As she pointed at some pictures on the laptop to the group, which were now seated together around a small table, when she heard yellings.

"I'm never playing mini-golf with you guys again!" Trina whined in a high-pitched tone as she stormed into the living room, a golf club in her hand. Her mother trailed after her.

"Promise?" She asked.

Tori raised an eyebrow as she glanced at her friends, who were now watching the drama in front of them.

"What happened?" She said, a bit worried as she took a tentative step forward.

Her mother sighed. "Trina missed a putt so she got upset and threw a golf club at her father." Tori gasped.

"No, I threw my golf club, and Dad just stood there and let it hit him." Trina said in an exasperated, and slightly defensive, tone. As if on a cue, her father walked into the house, sporting a nasty bruise on his right eye.

"Well, that was fun." He said sarcastically as his wife comforted him. When Trina went upstairs to paint her nails, ignoring her mother's order to get an ice-pack, Tori walked over to her father and gently felt the bruise.

"Aw, it's throbbing." She said. Mr. Vega sighed.

"Yes, yes. Thank you, baby."

After that, Tori was forced to being Trina with her, her parents even promising to purchase her a car ("Any car you want!"). They, however, were resolute that Tori bring an adult to chaporene the trip or there would be no trip; this was resolved when Robbie had suggested they ask Sikowitz to go. Tori sighed.

"Great. Ok, we'll do that." She muttered. As Andre got off the island where he had been sitting on to go over to his girlfriend, Robbie looked over at Jade to find that she was scowling slightly, clearly displeased that Tori's annoying sister had to go on the trip.

He placed his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. She snuggled into him, wrapping her arms around him, the scowl on her face dissipating a bit.

_**FLASHBACK END**_

* * *

><p>Robbie chuckled a bit as he then remembered how displeased Tori and the others (especially Jade) had been when they were forced to ask him to chaperone the trip for them, given that he was the only available teacher.<p>

He looked down to see Jade looking at him questioningly. He shrugged.

"Just thinking about when Tori invited Sikowitz to go with us." He replied with a cheeky smile. Jade rolled her eyes.

"Of course."

* * *

><p><strong><em>FLASHBACK<em>**

"Ah! Yerba, Yerba, Yerba. Has a catchy ring to it, eh? You know, I hear they have different flavored coconuts there."

Andre was looking at Sikowitz strangely while Tori sighed softly and Jade rolled her eyes as they listened to their teacher's ramblings in while he was driving. Robbie was playing around on his PearPad, and Beck and Cat in their little world.

"Smart thing you did, Vega. Inviting him to go with us." Jade said sarcastically as she jerked her head toward the bearded man.

"I had no choice!" Tori whispered to her rival. "Lane had other plans for the summer, and I was unable to find other teachers willing to go with us."

"That, and we needed someone to chaperone us." Beck spoke up. Tori gestured at the long-haired boy with a 'you see what I mean' look on her face. Jade rolled her eyes again.

"Yay, I can't wait!" Cat clapped her hands excitedly.

"I can't wait to throw you into the ocean." Jade remarked with a deadpan look. Cat gasped.

"Jade." Robbie looked at her with a disapproving expression on his face. Jade rolled her eyes but then smiled.

Shortly after, they arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), where the group promptly got out and brought their luggage with them.

"I hope there won't be an annoying kid in the plane that we're going in." Trina said. Tori raised an eyebrow at her older sister.

"I'm looking at one." Jade said as she looked at Trina with disdain. Trina looked offended, while Andre and Beck chuckled.

"Onwards to Eurba!" Sikowitz said dramatically as he sidled toward the airline counter. The group sighed and muttered something under their breath as they followed their eccentric teacher.

"This will be worth it, this will be worth it." Andre muttered to himself.

_**FLASHBACK END**_

* * *

><p>The long flight to Yerba withstanding (which took a gruelling fifteen hours), it wasn't mentioning the fact that Yerba was apparently not the paradise they had expected. Indeed, it resembled more like a war-torn country than the tropical paradise that it was supposedly reowned to be. The supposedly magnificent hotel that they were staying in was actually a run-down manor located on the outskirts of the Yerbanian capital. Robbie couldn't blame Tori for this, though.<p>

The 'hotel' wasn't actually half-bad, although Rex loudly proclaimed that he didn't like the place at all. That is, when one discounted the...slightly wacky people who resided there ('slightly' being a light word). He remembered Tori had gotten freaked out when that weird Yerbanian guy (who turned out to be Festus's brother, who managed the hotel) smelled her hand, and tried to make her smell his. Then Robbie had gone on to inspect the hotel room with Jade and Trina, using the 'key' (which was actually a screwdiver) to enter what was actually a gritty hotel room. The discovery of a strange guy in the large closet had freaked the living daylights out of him, and so did an unexploded grenade in the toilet. Then later that very night, Beck and Andre had kicked him out of the bed and generally forced him to sleep in the bathtub.

The hell he was going to sleep in the same vicinity as that grenade in the toilet, so he opted to go to the girls' room, crawling into the bed next to Jade and Cat. Then a strange guy unexpectedly leapt into the bed through the window, only to be apprehended by Yerbanian soldiers - who crawled through the window too! - and dragged right back out the same window. Cue the frightened screams.

Somehow, Jade had slept through that. Thank God she didn't hear his..._girly_ scream.

The group had wanted to leave right away, but were forced to remain when the hotel manager all but used the threat of force to compel them to keep to their side of the 'agreement.' The first night, they were to entertain various Yerbanian guests - including the Chancellor and his entourage - with the song that Tori wrote, **I Want You Back**. Robbie enjoyed the show, especially Jade: the way she danced and swayed to the music made him hard in his pants, and he couldn't help but roam his eyes all over her curvy body. And Jade seemed to know it.

However, everything quickly went downhill and soon spiraled out of control when Tori accidentally kicked her high heels across the room, hitting the Yerbanian chancellor in the eye. Dressing up more like a military dictator, complete with a military uniform and its accessories (including epaulettes, medals, and an eye patch), the blinded chancellor had generally condemned Tori to prison without as much of a legal trial.

Then while Sikowitz and friends were appealing to the chancellor to release Tori, and just when he was about to agree on the condition that they never return to Yerba again, Robbie literally fried their hopes of getting out of the country.

So...here he was, in a gated prison located somewhere in Yerba, with his girlfriend and friends. This would be where he would spend the next four years. He had never seen Tori get so pissed off at him before in the year he had known her - and he honestly felt bad about that.

This added to the long list of events that had transpired in a relatively short period of time. Robbie still couldn't believe what had happened since then. Why, only a few months before, he had been a lonely boy who carried around a puppet, who had been derided as a nerd or geek or a variant therefor, who had been bereft of a girlfriend or even a chance of getting one.

Now here he was, dating Jade West, the dark girl who he had once thought was impossibly out of his league because she had been dating the most handsome boy in Hollywood Arts for two years. Not only that, but she was the girl he lost his virginity to - and he was glad for that.

What had begun as a personal quest to determine whether the two girls he liked like him back or not had led to a kaleidoscope of events that led to the way things were right now. Trina's constant rejection which manifested themselves in the bowl of soup and salad that was subsequently dumped on his head had prompted him to wash himself off into the restroom and have an impromptu conversation with his conscience. From there, fate intervened to make him bump with Jade herself in the corridor and actually have a meaningful conversation with her that only left more questions than providing answers, and led him to pay more attention to Jade herself.

Then he grew closer and closer to Jade in ways he would never have expected. Then she broke up with Beck and asked him out to the Danceathon in less than twenty-four hours before he had his first, actual kiss with her (discounting Trina and Cat's stage kisses). Then they made out for the first time in Jade's bedroom, where they so nearly had sex. Then he asked her to be his girlfriend a few days later.

Then there was the Danceathon itself, one of the greatest days in his life and the day before the worst day of his life. There, he had a delightfully wonderful time with Jade, impressing her with a variety of dance moves that he had to admit to himself that he didn't know he could do until his feet actually moved to the beat of the music. And then he was hit by a speeding car so soon after he had dropped Jade off at her house, and was saved by the diligent effort of surgeons. It was at the hospital he had an unique experience, an encounter with an angel named Samuel, of which had finally caused him to wake up from his weeks-long slumber.

After he'd been released from the hospital and recovered from his injuries, Jade's discovery of the fateful slip of paper led to amazing sex, which he would never forget for the rest of his life.

At that point, Tori was discussing a plan to get out of the prison - and the country - with Sikowitz, who was dressed up as a guard, of which uniform that he apparently bought from the hotel's gift shop. The teacher had bribed a farmer to borrow a duck truck, where he would drive them across the border (But Yerba was an island, surrounded by water. So how Sikowitz would do that, Robbie had no idea). It apparently involved the song, I Want You Back.

_"Robbie, you in?"_ A voice rang out.

_"Robbie...Robbie...you there?"_

He blinked back into reality as he saw Tori waving her hand in front of his face, the group looking at him with amused expressions on their face. Jade, for one, was smirking at him.

Robbie felt his face heat up as he coughed a bit to try to clear up the awkwardness.

"Uh...what was the plan again?" Tori rolled her eyes while Jade's smirk widened.

"See, that's the kind of effect I have on Robbie here," Jade remarked, making Robbie blush more.

Tori went over her plan once again, explaining that the purpose of the song was to distract the guards with the assitance of the other inmates, and then slip out of the prison when they weren't lookin and get on Sikowitz's duck truck.

"...the other prisoners will do their work, and don't worry, I'll make sure the tougher prisoners don't bother you." Tori said the last part at Andre, who scowled a bit in embarrassment while Beck snorted in laughter.

"Ohh, can I be the bait?" Cat said excitedly. Tori stared at her.

"Cat, there is no bait. We're in this together..." She glanced around furtively at the other prisoners. "...well, as together as we usually are."

Robbie nodded as he acknowledged the plan, even though his mind was somehow still thinking about the past.

Then Tori asked to see the chancellor, where she apparently 'admitted' the 'truth' and asked to honor him by playing a performance for him. He agreed, and so he and his entourage, along with a hand-picked crowd, were sitting in the courtyard. Tori and the others took their positions, where they would begin the plan.

As Robbie took his position among the group, he felt a hand intertwine into his and squeeze it. He smiled at Jade as she smiled back.

Tori nodded at the group as they were set to begin.

_Ohhhhhh_

_Let say now_

_Ohhhh_

_(Ohhhh)_

Everyone began to sing as they moved in step with the music.

_When I had you to myself I didn't want you around_

_Those pretty places always made you stand out in a crowd_

_But someone picked you from the bunch_

_One glance was all it took_

_Now it's much too late for me to take a second look_

The lyric wafted through the air as everyone danced to the music, moving in tandem of steps and gestures.

_CHORUS:_

_Oh baby give me one more chance_

_(show you that I love you)_

_Won't you please let me_

_(back to your heart)_

_Oh darlin' I was blind to let you go_

_(let you go baby)_

_But now since I see you in his arms_

_(I want you back)_

_Yes I do now_

_(I want you back)_

_Ooh ooh baby_

_(I want you back)_

_Ya ya ya ya_

_(I want you back)_

_Na na na na_

_Tryin' to live without your love_

_Is one long sleepless night_

_Let me show you girl_

_That I know wrong from right_

_Every street you walk on_

_I leave tearstains on the ground_

_Following the girl_

_I didn't even want around_

_Let me tell you now_

The plan seemed to work as the audience began to sway along with the music, clearly enjoying it.

_CHORUS:_

_Oh baby all I need is one more chance_

_(show you that I love you)_

_Won't you please let me_

_(back to your heart)_

_Oh darlin' I was blind to let you go_

_(let you go baby)_

_But now since I see you in his arms_

_Uh-huh_

_A buh buh buh buh (2 times)_

_All I want_

_A buh buh buh buh_

_All I need_

_A buh buh buh buh_

_All I want_

_A buh buh buh buh_

_All I need_

Tori and the others grinned at each other as they saw that the plan was clearly working.

_CHORUS:_

_Oh baby all I need is one more chance_

_(show you that I love you)_

_Won't you please let me_

_(back to your heart)_

_Oh darlin' I was blind to let you go_

_(let you go baby)_

_But now since I see you in his arms_

_Uh-huh_

_A buh buh buh buh (2 times)_

_All I want_

_A buh buh buh buh_

_All I need_

_A buh buh buh buh_

_All I want_

_A buh buh buh buh_

_All I need_

At this part, Tori began to skip toward the back of the stage, followed by Andre, Robbie, Jade, Beck, Cat, and Trina, as well the 'manly' female prisoner who had nearly beat Jade up. The other prisoners parted to let them cross through.

"Quick, this way!" Tori hissed as she led the group through a deserted hallway, going around several corners.

"Wait! I gotta find Rex!" Ignoring the others' protests, Robbie had little difficulty finding the place where the guards would've placed Rex in. The song was still wallowing in the background, but it was only a matter of time before it ended and everyone realized what was going on.

Managing to find it, Robbie snatched Rex up and sprinted over to where the group were. Jade shot him an irritated, but relieved, glare.

By then, the music had ended. The Yerbanians would find out soon.

"Here it is!" Tori pointed at a door, and they promptly burst out to find Sikowitz with his rundown truck. Everyone clambered on abroad as Sikowitz got into the car and hightailed it out of there. Jade wrapped her hands around Robbie tightly as the vehicle made several sharp turns, prompting some squeals and yells - especially from Cat - down the mountain. The prison was receding in the distance, but Robbie knew they had to get out of there fast before the Yerbanians called for reinforcements. They were in a war-torn country, after all.

After some time, the bumpy road became more smooth, and Robbie felt himself relax a bit, feeling the wind blow through his hair. He slipped his hand into Jade's, smiling at her.

"That was interesting, huh?" Robbie remarked.

Jade smiled. "Well...prison is not something I would call 'interesting', but yes you can say that. As long as you're here with me."

Adopting a smirk, Robbie looked at her. "Getting cheesy, aren't we?" He mimicked Jade's earlier words, which received a slap from Jade on his shoulder.

"Say that again, and you won't get to taste these lips for a long time." Jade warned. Robbie laughed as he leaned over to peck her on the lips.

"I just did."

Jade shook her head with a small smile.

"This was some adventure, huh?" Jade had her head on Robbie's shoulder.

Robbie chuckled. "Yes...this would be a trip that we won't forget."

"I wouldn't say that, actually." Jade had a...naughty smirk. Robbie felt his crotch twitch a bit as he looked at his girlfriend.

"Why?" Robbie inquired. Jade grinned.

"You already know."

Robbie grinned in return as he leaned over to give her a kiss, one she eagerly returned.

Jade was right...much lay in ready in the near-future, these that Robbie felt that he wouldn't forget.

They had to get out of Yerba first.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hm, I think I did ok on this chapter...hope you liked. Now, for the shout outs.**

**I would like to thank ZenNoMai, jackpotdante, DarkseidAlex, Riotstarter1214, fwfrefre, franc14, Broken Juggernaut, and others whose reviews encouraged me to keep on writing. I couldn't have done it without you guys, and you're all awesome!**

**I also would like to thank Zen, for his Rade stories not only spawned my love for Rade, but inspired me to write Rade stories as well. You are awesome, dude.**

**Once again, if you haven't watched the episode, then don't read-aw, who am I kidding? Chances are that if you're reading this particular sentence, you probably have read the chapter already, lol.**

**I might write more Rade stories in the near-future, perhaps a sequel to this story. But we shall see.**

**Until then,**

**GallaudetLurker**


	22. Note about the Epilogue

**Note about the epilogue:**

Hey guys and gals, after watching the new episode, 'Locked Up', a few times, I rewrote the epilogue. So check it out. A word of caution, though: there are spoilers in that chapter, so if you haven't seen the episode yet, I suggest you watch it first before reading the modified epilogue.

This note of precaution will be included in the A/N in that chapter, for added measure. :)

For these who have already watched the episode, or don't care about the spoiler alert, read, enjoy, and review. :)


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